Seriously, Black
by Hamm On Wry
Summary: Sirius Black is always portrayed as a hotheaded idiot. I mean, really he always does the same thing, gets framed by Peter and either sent to Azkaban or has to hide out for years. What if he had done the right thing?
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Sirius Black is always portrayed as a hotheaded idiot. I mean, really; he always does the same thing, gets framed by Peter and either sent to Azkaban or has to hide out for years. What if he had done the right thing?_

**Seriously, Black**

**Chapter 1**

**History Rewritten**

_October 31, 1981_

_Godric's Hollow_

The large man, some would have said giant, stepped past the rubble in the entryway, past the body of James Potter, and made his way gingerly up the ruined stairs to the nursery. He took in the ruined, spell blasted room and the body of Lily Potter and the empty robes of the evil wizard who called himself Lord Voldemort. Something caught his attention, and he bent down and picked up Voldemort's wand.

"Dumbledore will be wantin' this." Picking up Lily's wand, he added, "An someday little Harry will be wantin' his ma's wand. I'll get James' on the way out." The reference to Harry made him turn and look around the room. "Harry… where's Harry?"

Visibly upset, Hagrid searched every room of the house, picking up huge pieces of lumber and tossing them aside in an attempt to find the tot. Failing that, he picked his way out of the ruined house and down the walk. He walked to a nearby tree and retrieved the oversized broomstick that he had left there when he had arrived. "This'll throw a wrench into Dumbledore's plans," he thought as he kicked off the ground and headed for Surrey where the headmaster was waiting.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

The dark haired man, his face tear streaked and stained with ashes and dirt, stepped into the door and up to the desk. On his back he had a papoose carrier containing a sleeping child, a bloody cut on the child's forehead. He cleared his throat, getting the desk auror's attention.

"Auror Black, what the hell happened to you? Is that Potter's kid?"

"Yeah Frank, I need to report a murder. Actually two murders and a self defense killing."

The auror grabbed a quill and parchment. "Okay, Black. Better start at the beginning." The tale that the auror heard next would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"You know that James and Lily Potter are my best friends, right?" At the auror's nod, he continued. "James, Lily, and Harry had to go into hiding because You-Know-Who has been hunting them. James was talked into putting their house under the Fidelus Charm to keep them safe. We made everyone believe that I was the secret keeper, even Dumbledore. Then at the last minute, we switched secret keepers and made Peter Pettigrew their secret keeper. We figured that it was the perfect plan, I mean, really; who would suspect that little, meek Peter was the secret keeper? That way, even if I was captured and tortured, the Death Eaters could not get the location. I was really the obvious choice as the secret keeper since I was closer to James than Peter was. We knew that there was a spy, but I thought it might be Remus Lupin. It turned out that he was loyal, no matter that he is a werewolf."

"I went to James' house tonight and found it destroyed, James and Lily dead and You-Know-Who completely destroyed, nothing left of him but his robes and wand. Little Harry was in his crib, screaming his head off and bleeding from this cut on his head. Look, the only way that they could have found James and Lily would be that Peter was the spy! He HAD to have sold them out to You-Know-Who! I picked up Harry and came straight here. You-Know-Who is dead, but James and Lily need justice! Pettigrew should have his thrice-damned soul sucked out!"

"Black, these are serious charges, I assume that you can prove them?"

"Damn right. Give me Veritaserum and take my pensieve memories. That will give you all of the proof that you need." Sirius shook his head. "I feel so damned guilty, it was my idea to switch secret keepers. I thought I was being clever. My _cleverness_ got my best friends _killed!_"

"Okay, you know procedure, I need to call in a witness." Walking over to the fireplace, the auror tossed in a pinch of powder, got on his knees and called out, "Amelia Bones!"

A few seconds later a voice was heard, "What is it, Auror Longbottom?"

"Madam Bones, Sirius Black is in here with a story that is almost unbelievable. I need you to come through and witness his testimony under Veritaserum."

"Very well, stand back." Frank Longbottom stood back and the fireplace flared green again. A dignified 40-ish looking woman came through and stepped into the office. Taking in the scene, she spoke to Sirius.

"This better be good, Black. I just heard from Dumbledore and he is claiming that you had something to do with the deaths of the Potters and possibly even the kidnapping of their baby. The baby that I might add is currently strapped to your back." Leveling her wand at Sirius, she continued, "Now, very gently take the baby off of your back and pass him over here."

Frank Longbottom stepped up. "Amelia, Black came in of his own volition to lodge a complaint. He has volunteered to be placed under Veritaserum and to turn over his memories of the relevant events." Longbottom reached out and took the still sleeping Harry from Sirius. "We may as well get started."

Handing the sleeping child to Bones, Frank went to a wall safe, opened it and pulled out a sealed vial of clear liquid. He took it over to Bones to have her verify the seal number, then they both initialed the label. Frank broke the seal and administered three drops of the liquid into Sirius' open mouth. They watched Black's eyes and when they became unfocused, Longbottom started the questioning.

"What is your full name?"

"Sirius Orion Black."

"Were you the secret keeper for the Potter Family?"

"No, I was not."

"Who was the secret keeper?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Why was Pettigrew named secret keeper?"

Sirius recounted the details of why he had convinced James and Lily to change secret keepers. His logic was sound, and both aurors found themselves sympathizing with him. Longbottom then administered the antidote and they watched as his eyes slowly focused.

"Okay, now all we need is your memories to back up the Veritaserum." Longbottom retrieved a number of vials for the memories, opened them and looked expectantly at Sirius. One at a time, Sirius took all of the relevant memories out and placed them in the vials while giving descriptions of each memory. The two aurors watched each memory in a penseive, then placed the memories back in the appropriate vial, sealed them, and initialed the labels. Longbottom gathered them up, placed them into a box, sealed it and put them into the evidence safe. Madam Bones then got their attention.

"Black, Longbottom. I need to contact Dumbledore and have him stop spreading it around that Black is responsible for James and Lily's death. We will also do a press release so that people will be on the lookout for Pettigrew. Do you have any idea where he might be?"

"Probably some sewer," Sirius answered bitterly. At their questioning look, he continued. "James, Peter, and I are all animagi. James was a stag, I am a black dog, and Pettigrew is a rat. We became animagi in order to help Remus Lupin during his changes on the full moon. We never got around to registering."

"You know that we will have to charge you with that. Longbottom, write black a summons and take down his registration information. Black, the fine on that is five thousand galleons and an additional five hundred galleons for the registration. Do you have the money now? If you don't, you will have to go to court and you could face six months in Azkaban."

"If you can do a key transfer with Gringotts, then yes, I have the money."

"We can do that." Taking a wax pad out from under the desk, Amelia heated up a stylus, wrote '5500g, and passed it over to Sirius. He pressed his key into the pad and passed it back. The pad glowed gold, then once again became blank. "All done, now if you will change into your animagus shape, Longbottom can get the particulars. I am going to do the press release and call Dumbledore. Have you figured out what you are going to do with little Harry?"

"I was actually going to ask Frank if he and Alice could watch Harry for a couple of days while I make my flat a bit more child friendly. I am Harry's godfather, so I will take the responsibility of raising him. Lily said that if I couldn't raise him that she wanted either you or the Longbottoms to raise him. She just wanted to make sure that her muggle sister never got hold of Harry. She figured that her sister's husband would just as soon kill Harry as raise him."

_"I'll take him home with me." And then, silence fell for a moment, before Frank asked the question that had been on his mind ever since the story had come out. "Sirius...why didn't you go after Pettigrew yourself? I mean, no offense, but you do have a short temper. _

_And as close as you were to Lily and James...I'd think you would want to make them suffer."_

"Don't think that I didn't consider it. I would love nothing better than to paste that traitor right into a wall. I just realized that it would be much better for Harry if I was around instead of in Azkaban for murder. Besides, if I killed Pettigrew, the truth would never come out. I figure that the Death Eaters will be looking for Pettigrew as hard as you will be. After all, if he hadn't led You-Know-Who to James and Lily's, he would be alive. I would almost wish them luck if I didn't wish them the same fate as Wormtail."

Bones went over to the fireplace, took a pinch of powder and called out, "The Daily Prophet!" She bent down and announced, "The DMLE will be giving a press conference in 30 minutes. We have very important information on the defeat of You-Know-Who and the betrayer of James and Lily Potter, as well as the condition of our littlest hero, Harry Potter." She then did the same thing for the Wizarding Wireless.

"Auror Black, would you care to join me for the press conference?"

"Absolutely, Madam Bones."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Malfoy Manor_

_2 hours later_

Lucius Malfoy and the Lestrange's were in shock from the report that they just heard on the Wizarding Wireless. Their master dead at the hands of a one year old and the betrayer on the run. Lucius sat down heavily.

"Merlin, we're screwed. With the master gone, they will just round us up and either throw us into Azkaban or give us the kiss. I _knew _that Pettigrew was a rat! I just didn't realize how much of a rat. Do you have any ideas?"

"I don't think he is dead," stated Bellatrix firmly. "They've done something with him. We need to hit them where it hurts to find out just _what_ they did. That auror, Longbottom, he is a close friend of the Potters, right?" at Lucius' nod, she continued. "I would be willing to bet that he or his wife knows something. We, " she pointed at her husband and his brother, " will go after the Longbottoms in a couple of days. One way or another, they will talk. Meanwhile, you can track down Pettigrew. Take Barty Crouch with you. If the Longbottoms don't know where the Master is, I would bet that Pettigrew knows."

"I'll bet that Black could find him, he will probably be assigned to track him down since he knows him so well. If I shadow Black, I should be able to find Pettigrew. When he goes to arrest him, I will kill Black and snatch Pettigrew. He should be willing to go to 'safety' with an 'ally'." Lucius snickered. "We will only have one shot at this. If we mess this up, we might as well start to pick out our clothes for our trials."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_A/N: I would like to thank SweetSouthernGal for the wonderful suggestion on a bit of dialog between Frank and Sirius. I have used her suggestion and reposted the item in italics. She was right, that particular line was very stilted and rushed._


	2. Rat Tracks

**Chapter 2**

**Rat Tracks**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

The DMLE was at full alert, the disappearance or death of Voldemort notwithstanding. In fact, without the leadership of the Dark Lord, it seemed that much more important to round up his followers while they were still reeling from the blow. All leaves had been cancelled, shifts went from eight to twelve hours per day, and some retired Aurors had been called back into service, mostly to free up active duty Aurors who had been riding a desk, but in some rare cases to go back into the field or to work at the training centre. One of these tough old birds was in the office right then preparing to go out on a tracking team in search of Peter Pettigrew. His name was Alistair "Mad-Eye" Moody and he was one scary man.

Moody had been fighting Dark Lords and their followers for the past forty-odd years. He had joined the DMLE as a fresh faced rookie, then after taking down a seven man spy unit infiltrating Britain for Lord Grindlwald, leaving no long term survivors, he was recruited by the Unspeakables for the duration of the war. He was given a license to kill, then infiltrated into Grindlwald's forces and told to work his way to the top via attrition. The more people above him that he could 'retire', the closer he could get to the inner circle. The killings were all credited to some mysterious 'hitwizard' and Moody never came under suspicion. This role culminated in April 1945 when Albus Dumbledore cast the only killing curse in his career, taking down Grindlwald while Moody kept most of the inner circle tied down and unable to help their master.

Following the war, Moody worked undercover with muggle Nazi hunters from MI6, the CIA, and after 1948, the Israeli Shin Bet. When Hitler's minions headed for safer ground in places such as Argentina and Brazil, many of Grindlwald's people went with them. Where the Nazi hunters, for the most part, attempted to extradite their quarry through diplomatic means, Moody had no such restrictions. Many dark wizards found their final resting places in Brazilian jungles, and in Argentina, were transfigured into cattle and, in a real example of poetic justice, disappeared into the slaughterhouses of that nation's beef industry. Moody was _very_ good at transfiguration.

After fifteen years of this, Moody reentered the Auror Corps as a fugitive tracker, then a trainer. When the first Voldemort war broke out, Moody led a group of green trainees into battle against Death Eaters who attacked the Auror Academy. The fight was long and bloody. Moody lost almost half of his troops in the battle, along with his eye and one of his legs. Although he attempted to come back to work after recuperating, the Ministry, in their infinite wisdom, gave him an Order of Merlin (second class), a gold watch, a pat on the head, and a pension, then put him out to pasture. Moody called in a few favors from some very important people and went to work as a 'consultant' for the Unspeakables, picking out low level Death Eaters, and helping them meet with 'accidents', thereby giving Voldemort less cannon fodder to throw at the Ministry.

At the present time, they were preparing to follow up on a lead sent in by a squib who had seen a man who looked like the picture of Peter Pettigrew that he had seen in the _Daily Prophet_. The squib was a cousin of Arthur Weasley, an accountant who worked in downtown London. He had seen the man looking furtively around before entering a seedy apartment building. Mr. Weasley had peered in the glass front door of the building, but had seen only an empty hallway, a lift with an out of order sign, and a set of stairs, also empty. The plan was for Moody to look through the doors of each apartment with his magical eye to attempt to spot the suspect. This team had already had some limited success when they raided Lucius Malfoy's home on a tip that Pettigrew might be hiding there. Although they did not find Wormtail, Moody's eye had spotted a hidden cache of dark items hidden in a secret compartment in the dining room, and in a scuffle with the Malfoy patriarch, his left sleeve had been ripped, exposing the Dark Mark. Lucius was now awaiting his trial in a Ministry holding cell. The house was purged of everything more dangerous than a butterknife.

The team, made up of Moody, Sirius Black, and Frank Longbottom, planned to approach the apartment building with Moody under an invisibility cloak and Sirius in his animagus form. Longbottom would be disguised as a blind man with Sirius as his guide dog. Sirius Black would use his nose to attempt to pick up Pettigrew's scent, hopefully tracking him right to his door, or at least ruling out most of the apartments. As they were getting ready to leave, Amelia Bones called Frank back in.

"Frank, your wife is calling on the floo. She needs to speak with you."

"Be right there!" Running back over to the floo, Frank asked Alice if there was a problem.

"Not at all, I just wanted to let you know that your mother and I are taking the boys into muggle London to pick up some new clothes for Harry, along with some baby furniture that Sirius can take to his flat. We will just get a receipt and he can pay us back when he gets a chance. We will probably be having lunch there also, so we won't be back home for several hours."

"Sounds like a good plan, dear. I'll let Sirius know what's going on. See you tonight."

Alice broke the connection and Frank headed back to the team. Sirius transformed and Frank put the handle harness on his friend, then put on his dark glasses, completing the disguise. Moody waited until the two exited the phone booth at the street entrance before he put on his cloak and followed them. They walked down the street until they encountered one of London's famous bobbies and Sirius barked, getting the man's attention.

"Pardon me, is there a constable here?" Frank was in full character as an able blind man.

"Yes, sir. My name is Constable Smythe. Is there some way I can assist you?"

"Yes, Constable. I find myself in need of a taxi, but I have no way of knowing where they are to hail one. Also, many of the drivers do not like to allow my seeing eye dog in their taxis, so they tend to drive right past."

"Ah, that sounds like a right rotten thing to do. I would be happy to hail a taxi for you and make sure that the driver doesn't refuse your dog. Smart animal, that one is. It seems that he looked for me on purpose."

"Oh, he did. When I tell him to get help, he looks for the first bobby that he can find, he knows that we can trust the police. He then gets the officer's attention."

"Amazing. It just goes to show that dogs really are man's best friend." The bobby took a cookie out of his coat pocket and offered it to Sirius, who eagerly took it, tossed it in the air, then caught it, making it disappear in one gulp. Smythe spotted an empty taxi, hailed it, and when the cabbie pulled over, opened the door for the 'blind' man and his dog. Mad-Eye, under his cloak, scooted in the seat as soon as the door opened, then Sirius hopped in, followed by Frank. Frank thanked Smythe, then gave the cabbie the destination address. As the taxi pulled away, Smythe heard the blind man say "Showoff" to his dog, then heard the words "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"Constant vigilance, eh? Not a bad phrase to live by," Smythe said to himself as he gave his baton a twirl, heading back down the street, happy to have been of service to one of Her Majesty's more vulnerable subjects.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Longbottom Manor_

Alice Longbottom was wondering if she would survive this shopping trip. After feeding the two toddlers, getting more food on her and the children's outsides than their insides, she tucked one under each arm and took them into the bathroom to clean them up. After they were both clean, she made the mistake of taking both of them out of the tub at the same time to dry them off. Neville and Harry, with twin yelps of joy, took of running in different directions, stark naked and dripping wet. There were doors at each end of the bathroom going into adjoining bedrooms, and both doors were open. Finally catching them, not so easy since Harry hid under a bed while Neville ran straight to his grandmother and attached himself to her leg, Alice dried them off and popped them both onto the changing table to put fresh nappies on. She tickled Harry's tummy while she used her wand to attach the nappy to Neville. Harry promptly peed on her. She dried him off, then put on his nappy while holding her hand on Neville. Her son grunted, then got a contented look on his face as a stench filled the room. She then recleaned Neville and dressed both boys.

After leaving the boys with Frank's mother, Augusta, she took her own bath, then dressed for the trip. When she came back down, she had to convince Augusta to leave her vulture hat there on the grounds that it would make them too noticeable to the muggles.

"Nonsense, dear. I have worn this hat ever since Frank's father died. If it is that important, I will just put a 'notice me not' charm on it." She then proceeded to do exactly that.

Each of the women took a toddler, Alice charmed the stroller to hold two children rather than one, then shrunk it and put it in her purse. They each took some floo powder, tossed it into the fire, called out, "The Leaky Cauldron", and stepped in, disappearing from view.

At the same time, another hunter team was closing in on their quarry. Bellatrix, her husband and brother-in-law apparated to just outside the wards of Longbottom Manor. Since it had rained the previous night, they landed ankle deep in mud. Slogging out of it and ducking behind a hedge, Bellatrix studied the wards.

"Okay, pretty standard. We have apparition wards, portkey and floo wards, and…oooh, here is a tricky one, they also have one that only family members can get through unless they are keyed in."

"Well, are you going to have any problems with them?" asked Rudolphus.

"The only one that we have to worry about is the family ward. Since we are not apparating, portkeying, or flooing, once we get past the family ward, we can just walk up to the front door." She then studied the family ward for a while until she found a weakness.

"Got it. There is a two inch gap where a gnome has tunneled under the wall." She then cast a shrinking charm on each of them and they walked right through the tunnel. "Idiots made our job pretty easy. Seems they're just a bit overconfident."

Once they were past the wards, Bella cast the counter-charm on each of them and they proceeded to walk up to the front door. A simple _Alhomora_ opened the door and they dove through, bracketing the door. They had, however, made one serious error.

There was one more ward. It was not cast by wizards, but rather by the house elves. This would alert them when there was a situation where they were needed. Bellatrix, because of the natural scorn in which wizards and witches held elves, completely discounted the ward, deeming it unimportant. She would never make that mistake again.

Missy, one of two house elves owned by the Longbottom family to keep the manor clean, watched with shock as the trio poured into the room. The reason for her shock was the fact that their feet were coated in mud and they were tracking it all over the polished marble entryway.

"You is not belonging here! You is making mess of Mistress's house!" the little elf squeaked in outrage. Bella pointed her wand at the elf and fired of a bone breaking curse at her. The curse missed because the elf apparated across the room before the spell could leave her wand. It did, however, take out a portrait hanging on the wall. The Longbottom's other elf, Jenno, also appeared in the room. With twin snaps of their fingers, the messy miscreants were slammed against a wall, then slammed against each other, tied up and thrown out of the house through the family ward. That ward picked up the Death Eaters and tossed them into a holding cell in the cellar. That cell was heavily warded against any magic, making escape impossible. They would be waiting there when the Aurors arrived, notified by a still enraged elf.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_London_

Frank Longbottom had the taxi drop them off a couple of blocks away from the target location. Mad-Eye followed behind them in his cape, a silencing charm on his wooden leg. They were almost directly across the street when Padfoot caught a familiar scent. He then saw Pettigrew walking away from the building toward an alley.

Sirius was torn. He couldn't bark since it might alert Wormtail to their presence. With the halter on, he couldn't change back to his human form without choking himself to death. There was also the fact that the muggles would freak at a dog suddenly becoming human. Mad-Eye and Frank had not seen Wormtail. He did the only thing that he could think of. He lunged, yanking the handle out of Frank's hand, and charged across the street. Both of the Aurors saw where Padfoot was heading, spotted Pettigrew, and began to follow. The honk of a horn stopped them from being run over by a car, but Padfoot was not quite so lucky. A squeal of brakes, a thump, and Sirius flew into the street and lay still. Pettigrew turned at the commotion, spotted Frank and Padfoot, and quickly turned into the alley.

"Quick! Follow Pettigrew!" yelled Mad-Eye.

"What about Black?" Frank yelled back.

"Nothing we can do for him now. We can get Pettigrew though!"

The two aurors dodged across the street and into the alley. The alley only went back about a hundred feet before coming to a dead end against a brick wall. There was no sign of Pettigrew. The Aurors searched the alley, finally seeing a shoe laying next to a sewer grate. Frank picked it up, recognizing it as one made at a shop in Diagon Alley.

"Bastard got away. Well, let's go see if we can do anything for Black. If we can't, we can at least recover the body so that he can have an honorable funeral, dying in the line of service and all." The two dejected Aurors headed back to the street.

What the Aurors did not know was that when they had rushed into the alley, the fellow who struck Padfoot, a kindly man named George Kingston, stopped his car and rushed to see if he could help the dog. Padfoot was unconscious, his hind leg twisted in an unnatural angle. Kingston, with the help of a passerby, picked up the big black dog and placed him gently into the back seat of his car. He then rushed away to take the dog to an animal hospital.

Frank and Moody looked at the spot where Sirius had been. Traffic was moving normally, there was no sign of their partner. Moody turned to Frank.

"Well, he's either not hurt or he somehow managed to get away from here. Probably portkeyed somehow to St. Mungos. We can start there, if we don't find him, go back to the office and figure out where to go from there."

"Damn."

"You got that right."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Soho Veterinary Clinic_

George Kingston hurried into the clinic and got the attention of the receptionist. "I've got an injured seeing eye dog out in my car! I need some help getting him in."

A technician and a customer rushed outside and assisted him in bringing the big black dog, still wearing his harness and handle, into the surgery. Kingston, feeling terrible about hitting the animal, told the receptionist that he would take care of the bill. The receptionist took his information and asked him to take a seat. Roughly thirty minutes later, the vet came out to speak with him.

Dr. Sarah Nalett, known around the clinic as "CC", had worked feverishly to stabilize the animal. They had done full body X-rays and discovered that the only injuries that they could find were a broken hind leg and a possible concussion, but not life threatening. She had instructed her technician to begin to prepare the dog for surgery. She then went out to the waiting room to speak with Mr. Kingston.

"It was very good of you to take responsibility for the animal. He does seem to be a seeing eye dog, but he doesn't have a proper license or a service dog registration. Did you, by chance, see a blind fellow stumbling around looking like he lost his best friend?" At Kingston's negative shake, she continued. "The good news is that after surgery, he should regain full use of his leg. We don't know how serious the head injury is, but he seems to be breathing well and his eyes are responsive. Once we get the leg set, we will put it in a plaster cast. We can then begin to look for his owner. As regal a dog as that, we should have no problem reuniting them. If he is registered, the Royal Association for the Blind may go ahead and pay the bill."

"There is no identification on him at all?"

"Only a nametag on his harness. It has the name, 'Padfoot', but no address or telephone. I am sure that we will find the owner though, and I will personally give him hell for not marking his dog. I will also microchip him before he leaves. That way if he and his owner are ever separated again, any vet will be able to send him home."

"If that is all, I suppose that I should be leaving. Please call me if you cannot find his owner." They shook hands and Kingston left.


	3. A Different Kind of Magic

_A/N: Most of this should have probably been put into the beginning of last chapter or the end of Chapter 1, but I just couldn't get it to flow. What you need to realize is that this chapter begins on October 31 and November 1, and most of it takes place prior to last chapter. I will show this by noting it with the dates._

**Chapter 3**

**A Different Kind of Magic**

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Office of the Headmaster_

_Oct 31-Nov 1_

Albus Dumbledore was in a foul mood. Unknown to the rest of the wizarding world, Albus and Bellatrix Lestrange had something very important in common. Neither believed that the Dark Lord was dead, and for much the same reason. When the instruments on his desk monitoring the life force of James, Lily, and Harry Potter had gone off the charts, he quickly moved to implement what he had begun to call "Plan B". The instruments tuned to James and Lily's lives had gone hypersonic, then went permanently still, Harry's spiked, stilled, then immediately started back up. Dumbledore summoned Severus Snape.

When the unpleasant Potions Master entered the Headmaster's office, Albus decided to forgo any pleasantries and told Severus to raise his left sleeve. The Dark Mark was still there, a bit fainter, but there nonetheless. Dumbledore would have been amazed had it not been. In his research into the mark, he had discovered that it was tied to the life force of the caster. The mark was a willing bond of servitude, cast by and agreed to between consenting adults. Should the caster die, so would the recipient, and the mark, dependant on the magic of both parties would disappear. Voldemort was weak, but he was still alive, somewhere. This meant that Albus had to get little Harry into a safe, controlled (by him) situation. Knowing what was in the Potter's will, he decided that he would have to somehow circumvent that, therefore he had thus come up with the Dursley Solution.

Even though he knew that Vernon and Petunia Dursley hated magic and, for some reason, refused to have any contact with her sister, Lily, Albus could not bring himself to believe that Petunia would refuse to treat her dead sister's orphan child with anything less than the very love that she showed her own child. Therefore, against the advice of his old friend and colleague, Minerva McGonagall, he apparated to Privet Drive and cast the Old Magic blood wards. Now all he needed was a drop of Harry's blood to activate the wards. This little detail is where everything went straight to hell.

Dumbledore had sent his groundskeeper, Rubius Hagrid, to the Potter Home to retrieve little Harry, but the half giant had come back empty handed. Thinking that Sirius Black had betrayed the Potters and had kidnapped Harry for some demented reason, he called and emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. He told the members of his suspicions, then dismissed them to put out the word about Black. Sooner or later some word would come back to him and he could put his last ditch plan into effect. This assurance lasted until the next morning when he opened his copy of _The Daily Prophet_. What he read made his jaw drop in shock.

Sirius Black was not the traitor, Peter Pettigrew was. Albus had to admit that the last minute change in the secret keeper was a plan worthy of himself, but that brought in even a larger danger. If Sirius Black were, as stated in the Potter's wills, to gain guardianship of Harry, the child would actually be in more danger than he would otherwise. Sirius Black, having never been formally disowned by his late father, was the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. Never mind that Walburga Black, Sirius' mother, was still alive, she had no power since the lineage in that house was strictly patriarchal. She now had no authority to stop his ascension. This meant that should something happen to Sirius, custody of Harry could pass to Sirius' nearest relative, Narcissa Malfoy, nee Black. Although Lucius Malfoy was suspected of Death Eater activity, Dumbledore had no faith that justice would actually be served in his case. Lucius just had too much expendable money to spread around for that to happen. This meant that, at least theoretically, the Boy-Who-Lived could be raised by a Death Eater. Albus could not allow this, he had to somehow get Harry under his control so he could assure his safety. This meant calling a special session of the Wizengamot and convincing them that Harry should be with family. Since there were so many criminal trials scheduled, this might take as much as a month. During that time, he would appeal to Sirius, telling him his fears.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Dumbledore's Office_

_November 2, 1981_

Sirius Black, Frank Longbottom, and Amelia Bones entered the office, having been given the password by Minerva McGonagall. When the three of them came in, they actually caught Dumbledore by surprise. He quickly composed himself, although he was seething inside at this unexpected turn of events. Putting on his best grandfatherly smile, he offered the three Aurors a lemon drop, which all declined.

"Mr. Longbottom, Madam Bones. I am surprised to see you here, I had only requested to see Mr. Black." Amelia smiled back.

"I thought it probably unnecessary also, but Mr. Black insisted. It seems that he is a bit intimidated by you even now. Something about the last time that he was in this office he thought the wrath of Merlin was about to smite him over some prank he pulled on Severus Snape. Which brings up the other reason we are here. We have a warrant for the arrest of Professor Snape for suspected Death Eater activity, and we will have to take him with us when we leave."

"Amelia, I implore you not to do this. Severus has done so much for our side while putting his life in daily peril. I would trust him with my life."

"That is high praise, but my hands are tied here. I will guarantee his safety though, and a fair trial where you can argue his case before the Wizengamot. He can also do what Mr. Black has done and subject himself to Veritaserum. If he is, as you say, innocent, it will all come out at the trial. Now, should we get to the reason that you requested Sirius' presence here?"

"Ah, yes. I would like to make a plea to you for Harry's safety." Albus then did something that he never would have imagined doing. He actually told the three the complete and unvarnished truth. Had Black come alone, he would not have told him as much, and if it came out to a worst case scenario, where Black told him to go pound sand, he would have put him under the Imperius Curse and made him sign over custody, then he would have obliviated him and made him believe that it was his idea. He would have felt guilty doing it, but there were just times where the ends justified the means. With three highly trained Aurors however, one of whom at least being immune to memory charms, he had to dispense with that option.

"Okay, let's see what we have," Sirius said. "One; I will accept what you say about the Dark Mark and Whats-his-name not being completely dead. It would explain a lot, especially the Death Eaters that we have captured who are surprised at being alive. So I'll give you that."

"Two; Lucius Malfoy as a Death Eater. You are probably right, but unless we catch him in the act of something, you are probably right that he will be untouchable, and maybe even if we did catch him. I also have to agree that it is a scary thought that he could get his hands on Harry, he might be trying to anyway. There are some things that I could do as head of the House of Black, but that means that I am going to actually have to make my claim to the House. I had been trying to avoid. If Regulus was still alive, I would have abdicated to him, he is, after all, much more in line with the beliefs of the House, especially that insane old bat that birthed me. I will look into that."

"Three; Blood wards that would keep Harry safe at his aunt's home. I want to know more about the wards and about Petunia and her family. The only recollection that I have of her was when Lily brought James, Remus, and myself to meet the family. Her folks were great people, but Petunia had her future husband there that day, and they were the coldest people that I have ever met. That husband of hers looked like he would be a bad one to cross, and when Lily said something about some of the magic she was doing at school, I thought that he was going to go spare. It seems that Petunia had not told him about Lily being a witch. It didn't help that he tried to grope Lily at one point and got hexed by all four of us. He went off about 'unnatural freaks' and only shut up when Remus told him that he was a werewolf and could make sure that Dursley could also become a 'freak' at the next full moon if he continued. It is the only time that I ever heard Remus threaten anyone. Even if Petunia would accept him, would those blood wards protect him against her husband?"

Dumbledore broke in. "Surely you don't believe that an adult would attack a helpless child in his care?"

"Tell me again why you wouldn't want Malfoy as Harry's guardian?"

"Point taken."

Sirius continued. "The best argument though is James and Lily's wills. They were very succinct about that fact that they, under no circumstances wanted Harry to go to her sister's home. So, in that case, I will have to decline. Now one other thing, I found out that Hagrid was the one that you sent to retrieve Harry from Godric's Hollow. When We searched the place the next day, there were a few items missing. I would like James and Lily's wands and James' invisibility cloak."

"What are you planning to do with them?" Albus felt a bit uncomfortable about giving up these items for some reason.

"I plan to take them to Gringotts and have them placed in Harry's family vault. When he is old enough, they will be his. Although the wands at least are evidence in a criminal investigation, but Amelia assures me that they will be returned, they just have to be tested first."

This backed Albus into a corner. Since he had not denied that he had them, it could be assumed that he did have them. He thought a moment, then decided that if he looked like he was cooperating, he could blindside them at a later date on the more important issue, that of Harry's guardianship. He had an enormous amount of political capital, it would be a good idea to spend some of it.

"Very well, I will retrieve them." He got up from his desk, placed his hand on a plate attached to his bookcase. The bookcase slid aside, opening up Albus' personal quarters. He went in and came out a minute later with the items requested. He was just glad that they had not asked for Voldemort's wand. He had placed it in Hogwarts high security Gringotts vault. That way he could truthfully say that it was not at the school or in his possession. He was sure that it would be coming in handy someday.

"Very good," said Frank. "Now, if you could please summon Mr. Snape, then we will be going."

Albus looked over to Fawkes. "Fawkes, please go to Severus and bring him here." The phoenix flamed out, then returned a moment later with the snarky Potions professor.

Snape took in the scene of the three Aurors and nodded. "I have been expecting you." Putting his hands straight out in front of him, he continued. "My wand is in my right pocket. I will give you no reason to hex me, I would just ask that someone besides Black take me into custody."

Sirius gave a feral grin. "Okay, _Snivilus,_ Frank can get his hands greasy."

Frank Longbottom stepped forward and snapped on the magic suppressing cuffs, then took Snape's wand. Leaning in, Frank leaned in and murmured, "Thank you, Severus for going quietly. I'll make sure that Black doesn't abuse his authority. Headmaster, good day." Since Frank had snapped the cuffs in front of Snape rather than behind him, he had Snape touch the Portkey with the rest of them, and the group disappeared.

Arriving back at Headquarters, they turned their prisoner over to a corrections officer, then headed back toward their office in silence, all three in thought. When they had gone in and closed the door, Amelia turned to face the other two.

"You know that Dumbledore is not going to take this lying down, don't you?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, he took that entirely too well. I expected him to try something."

Frank said, "He probably would have, had you gone alone. It was just a good thing that we had the warrant for Snape, gave us a good reason for all of us to be there."

Okay, you two," said Amelia. "Better make plans in the event that he attacks your fitness as a guardian, "she pointed at Sirius. "And I think that I am going to have a talk with the Dursleys."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_November 5, 1981_

_Soho Veterinary Clinic_

The large black dog shook its head as it came out of the anesthetic stupor. '_Ye gads, did anyone get the license number of that hippogriff…'_ He then took in his surroundings and his condition. _'Ok, leg is in a cast, I am in a cage, I have been shaved in places… uh, oh..whew!' _he thought as he quickly stuck his nose between his legs. _'Good thing that they didn't decide to do any… alterations while they had me under, they would have broken the heart of every available and some not-so-available witch in Britain. Now the things I have to figure out are… How did I get here, where is here, and how do I get out?' _

At this thought, his attention was drawn to a stately red headed woman in a white lab coat. A patch on her breast read "Soho Veterinary Clinic" and another that said "Dr. Sarah Nalett, DVM." Had Padfoot been able to whistle in this form, he would have. '_All right, that answers question number 2'. _She chose that moment to look his way. He gave his best 'friendly doggie' look at her, then gave a short bark, something that hurt his throat.

"Hello, big boy, nice to see that you finally woke up. Did the big pupper get in the way of a nasty old car?" She had reverted to her 'talking to baby' voice. Sirius shivered. "Well, let's get you out of there and check over our work." Sirius gave a happy bark and rose expectantly as the vet and one of her assistants came over to the cage. The assistant, Hailey, unlocked the cage and the two women picked him up bodily and carried him over to an examining table. As the red haired lady petted him, checked his eyes, opened his mouth to take a look down his throat, Padfoot was in heaven. Somehow the assistant had found just the right spot to scratch him, one that made him go wobbly kneed.

"Hailey, go ahead and check his temperature while I get something for his throat. It seems the anesthetic has made it a bit raw." Padfoot was in complete agreement with that. He looked at Hailey, who had gotten down a glass thermometer and was shaking it down. He opened his mouth so she could put it in, then realized that he was a dog, and you don't check a dog's temperature orally. As Hailey started to grip him around the waist, Padfoot abruptly sat down. Hailey was unable to lift his hind end. It seemed to be a stalemate until the doctor came back in, saw the problem, and joined her assistant in lifting Padfoot's hind legs off the table, keeping it up in the air while the assistant carried out her orders. All he was able to manage was to give a baleful look at Dr. Nalett. When Hailey had finished and proclaimed his temperature normal, Sarah tipped back his head, opened his jaws, and poured a foul tasting mixture down his throat. It did, however make his throat feel better.

"So, boss, any luck in finding his owner?" Hailey asked.

"Not yet, I have a call in to the Royal Association for the Blind, but so far they have not gotten back to me. I have also put an ad in the paper and notified the bobbies at the station closest to where he was picked up. Unfortunately, no one has contacted me back."

"You know, for some reason, I don't believe that he is a R.A.B. dog, I think he might have been privately trained."

"Why is that?"

"I was doing some reading, and the R.A.B. tends toward Labradors and Golden Retrievers. They also have their dogs snipped to lower aggressive tendencies."

"Really, that would explain a lot then. I was surprised about that when he was brought in, but I didn't realize that it was policy."

"Oh, yes. Should we put him back in the recovery cage or a larger pen?"

"For now, let's put him back in the smaller cage so his leg can set better before we transfer him." With that, the two picked Padfoot up and returned him to the small cage. At first, Padfoot was upset about that, then realized that he wouldn't be able to transform back even if he was in a larger cage with the cast on his leg. His leg would change shape and grow, but the cast wouldn't. He would just have to bide his time and hope that someone came for him.

As the door closed him back in, Hailey turned toward her boss. "What are you going to do with him if he isn't claimed?"

"He is such a pretty thing…" Padfoot preened. "I believe that I will go ahead and neuter him and take him home."

It was official, Padfoot _had_ to get out of there somehow!


	4. Tug of War

**Chapter 4**

**Tug of War**

_Longbottom Manor_

Frank and Alice Longbottom, along with Amelia Bones and Augusta Longbottom, were preparing to do battle with Albus Dumbledore. They were, of course, very concerned about the fact that Sirius had not been heard from in a couple of weeks and that they had no idea if he was even alive. Sirius' well being had, unfortunately, no bearing on the outcome of this particular fight. Albus had gotten a court date with the purpose of overriding the stated wishes of James and Lily Potter as to the guardianship of little Harry. Dumbledore was going to attempt to paint Sirius as an unfit guardian because of his single lifestyle and the fact that he held a dangerous job as an Auror. He would probably have a lot of backing in the Wizengamot with these arguments. Even if Sirius were present to defend his position, he would probably lose. Dumbledore was bound and determined to use the excuse of the blood wards in order to force Petunia Dursley to take in Harry.

What Dumbledore didn't know was that he was not dealing with amateurs in this battle. The Longbottoms, also listed in the will as potential guardians, were going to concede that Sirius might not be the best choice in order to throw off Dumbledore's main argument. Augusta Longbottom was a hands on favorite person to the older crowd in the Wizengamot and Frank was also well respected, heir to the family. Amelia had also done some digging and had come up with a couple of irrefutable arguments that should set Dumbledore back on his heels. She had gone to 4 Privet Drive, analyzed the unfinished wards that Dumbledore had put in place, then spoken with Petunia Dursley and her husband. Amelia left Surrey with a large smile on her face.

"She said _that!?" _Alice asked, aghast.

"He said _that!?"_ Frank parroted.

"They most certainly did. I wouldn't really worry too much about Albus bringing this up. When I finish with him, he will be lucky to avoid criminal action against himself. Now, once the case is called, here is what I want you to do…….."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Soho Veterinary Clinic_

It had taken almost two weeks, but Sirius had come up with a workable plan to escape the tender loving care of Dr. Nalett while keeping his manhood, or rather doghood, intact. He had put up with everything that they had done to him so far, even the planting of the so-called microchip. He didn't know why they called it that, being as it was in the developmental stages, the blasted thing was almost an inch square and had required an incision to implant. He figured that he could always have it removed at St. Mungo's when he got back to his world. The healers would probably have a good laugh at his expense, but he would have a neat scar to show off to the ladies. Padfoot had been moved to the larger cage where he would be able to stand up once he transformed. Now all he had to do was get this cast off his leg. He waited until the staff had gone home, then began to chew. If he could get most of it off, the rest should shatter when he transformed. If he could stand on his partially healed leg then he could apparate to St. Mungo's. Otherwise he would have to use his emergency portkey to the office, then get another portkey to the hospital.

Padfoot chewed on the cast for several hours, taking breaks to rinse his mouth out. He really hated the taste of plaster! He noticed the clock and began to get a bit frantic, it would not be very long before the staff would be coming in for the day. He finally got the cast degraded to the point that it should shatter when he transformed. Giving a short bark of triumph, Padfoot became Sirius for the first time in two weeks. "_Oh, she is going be sooo tweaked when she comes in and finds me gone. I think that I will take the cast with me and really give them a mystery!" _he thought. Sirius gingerly tested his leg, thought of St. Mungo's, then….

"_STUPIFY!"_

Before he could apparate away, a beam of light hit him and he knew no more.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

What Sirius had no idea of was the fact that as he transformed, he had an audience. Sarah Nalett had come in a bit early in order to check on him. She had plans to go ahead and neuter Padfoot today so that she could take him home. The other thing that Sirius was clueless about was the fact that Sarah Nalett, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, was, in fact, a muggleborn witch. She was every bit as brilliant as Lily Evens, and had been sorted into Ravenclaw a mere two years before the Marauders entered Hogwarts. She also finished almost two years early, having independently studied the curriculum, taking her O.W.L.s in fourth year and her N.E.W.T.s in 6th. Sarah had specialized in Care of Magical Creatures, but when she graduated, she found most doors closed to her. The purebloods had all of the good jobs, muggleborns, even one as brilliant as herself were relegated to low paying jobs with poor advancement possibilities. Fuming, she had taken her college entrance exams, then sailed through Veterinary training.

Sarah had, for the most part, turned her back on the world that had shunned her. She still loved magic, and in some cases used it to help heal her patients when no one was looking. She was actually planning to castrate Padfoot magically, putting him under with a spell, then doing an incision-less procedure to sterilize him. That was the reason that she had her wand ready and available. When she saw Padfoot become human, she did the only thing that made sense, she stunned him. Going over to the cage, she placed a couple of wards up to prevent apparition and the use of a portkey. She then pointed her wand at the unconscious Sirius and said, _"Enervate!"_ Sirius opened his eyes, took in the fact that the gentle doctor had a wand pointing at his face while wearing a truly scary expression of outrage. He summed up his situation in two succinct words.

"Oh, crap."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

After the shock had worn off, Sarah had put on a pot of tea so that they could talk and get each other's stories. She had almost fallen off her chair laughing when she realized that she had almost castrated the infamous Sirius Black. Even though Sirius had never paid any attention to her at Hogwarts, in fact had not even known of her existence, she had heard stories about the Marauders during her visits to Hagrid over the years. From those stories, she would bet that she would have been the envy of many witches, having held Black's breeding future, figuratively speaking, in the palm of her hand, where on a whim, she could have turned the stud into nothing more than a technical advisor.

As time for the staff to come in drew closer, Sarah had run some diagnostic spells on Sirius' leg and, with a few more healing spells, had pronounced him well enough to go home. She advised him to stay off work for a couple more days and they exchanged contact information. She was informed about the likely demise of Voldemort (she refused to call him by his hyphenated name) and the deaths of the Potters. She was happy to hear of Voldemort's defeat, she had watched from the sidelines as he had started encroaching on her world, but was saddened that it had come at such a terrible cost. She had met Lily Evens a couple of times during her stay at Hogwarts and had been impressed by the young witch. She decided that she would tell her staff that Padfoot's owner had come in to claim him. With that, Sarah had removed the wards and Sirius apparated away.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

When Sirius walked in the door, he looked around at the beehive of activity in the office. The Death Eater trials were coming up and everyone was busy wrapping up their cases to present the parchmentwork to the prosecutors. He stood there for a while with no one noticing him, then remembering a muggle show on the telly, called out, "Luuucy, I'm home!" The effect was immediate. Amelia Bones and Frank Longbottom hurried up in order to ask him just where in Merlin's name he had been for two weeks. Walking back to Amelia's office, he told them about his stay in Soho Veterinary Clinic. It took quite a while for his co-workers to get their mirth under control. The conversation then took a serious turn.

Amelia filled in Sirius about Dumbledore's attempt to thwart James and Lily's wishes regarding Harry and the impending Wizengamot hearing. They had to physically restrain Sirius to keep him from putting Dumbledore on the same short revenge list as Wormtail. It would have not looked very good if a member of the DMLE had hexed the Headmaster of Hogwarts, not to mention the main poobah of not only the Wizengamot, but also the International Confederation. After petrifying Sirius and not letting him loose until he agreed to hear them out without going off half cocked, they proceeded to attempt to talk some sense into him.

Laying out Dumbledore's case for Sirius, even he conceded that Albus could, by hints and innuendo, severely damage Sirius' reputation to the point that it would be impossible for him to gain custody of Harry. In fact, he would be hard pressed to even be allowed visitation with his godson. Frank then lay down his strategy for the hearing. There was a lot of screaming, not at Frank, but rather to him about Dumbledore, but in the end Sirius agreed to go along with it in order to present a united front against the old meddler. Since the hearing was due to convene in a couple of days, Amelia gave Sirius the next day off so that he could get checked over at St. Mungo's, cleaned up and rested.

After checking on the progress in the hunt for Pettigrew (there was no progress), Sirius left the office to portkey to the hospital.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Courtroom 2_

Albus Dumbledore entered the courtroom feeling very confident. He had brought with him all of the evidence that he needed to destroy Sirius Black in the event that his former student contested his plan to place Harry with the Dursleys. In a folder he had disciplinary reports for all seven of Sirius' years at Hogwarts, along with statements from some well connected Ministry workers detailing what could very well be a reckless approach to his job as Auror. Combined with his family's history, tacit Voldemort supporters as well as having a brother who had been a marked Death Eater, along with his unmarried status and having a werewolf as a best friend, Sirius would be fortunate to stay out of Azkaban, let alone get custody of anything with more feelings than a mushroom. He had heard of Sirius' two week absence from work, disappearing for long periods of time without contact would also be something that he could use against him if necessary.

Considering all of these factors, Albus was surprised to see Black come in with a fairly large group of people, two of which he did not recognize at all and one woman who he felt he should know, but just could not place her. Frank and Alice Longbottom were there with Harry and Little Neville. Augusta was with her son and daughter-in-law rather than in the Wizengamot jury panel. That was too bad, she was one of his big supporters and one who realized the importance of a child growing up with family. He snorted. She must have felt too close to the situation to vote on the placement. Sometimes Augie's high ethical standards annoyed him. She would be able to sway people from the gallery though so maybe it wasn't a total loss. Albus was sure that Alice was ready to hand Harry over, one 16 month old child could be a handful, tow, with one of them not even related must have been a nightmare. Albus didn't give a thought to dumping that same responsibility onto Petunia, after all, she was just a _muggle_ not good for much other than servant work. He did have to admit that Black looked good dressed in his formal robes with the crest of the House of Black. The young lady he was with, the one Albus felt he should know, was also well dressed and coiffed, her long red hair falling over her shoulders. For a moment, he thought that the woman might have been a Weasley or Prewett, but if she had been, he would have known her.

"_**Oyez, Oyez, This special session of the Wizengamot is called for the purpose of deciding guardianship of the minor child Harry James Potter. Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore presiding, representing the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is Madam Amelia Bones. Representing the Minister of Magic is his Undersecretary, Cornelius Fudge. Those having business before this august body, please step forward!"**_

At that time, Sirius, Frank and Alice, Augusta, and a non-descript young man stepped forward. The two strangers, a man and woman dressed in muggle clothing also stepped up, standing behind Sirius. Albus figured that they were some disreputable supporters of Black and wrote them off mentally. The young man standing apart from the others interested him, so Albus leaned forward and addressed him. "Young sir, please state your name and business in this matter."

"Grand Wizard Dumbledore, members of the Wizengamot, my name is George Steinman. I am a solicitor representing Gringotts Bank. My employer was named executor of the wills of James and Lily Potter, I am here to present their wishes."

At this point, Albus began to see that there might be a bit of a problem. Wizarding wills could not be broken without serious consequences and evidence as to why the deceased's wishes were not being followed. Barring that, a person who messed with a will could find themselves either in Azkaban or _persona non gratis _by Gringotts and the Goblin Nation. When Gringotts was named as executor, they took their duty very seriously. Well, it looked like he was going to have to pull out the big guns and destroy Sirius Black. Putting on his best grandfatherly smile, he nodded at Steinman and began the proceedings.

"Very well. I have filed a petition to place the minor child Harry James Potter in the care of his biological aunt, Petunia Dursley. The reason for this is that the child is in danger from supporters of Lord Voldemort due to Harry being the catalyst in the defeat of their master. One of the people believed to cause harm to the child is Peter Pettigrew, the betrayer of James and Lily Potter and a friend of Sirius Black…"

"_OBJECTION!" _Sirius almost hexed Dumbledore where he stood. "That rat Pettigrew is no friend of mine! He is a traitor to the very people who cared so much for him. I was the one who alerted the DMLE to the fact that Pettigrew was the traitor while you were doing your best to slander me and get me sent to Azkaban!"

Dumbledore smiled. "Do you have any proof of that, Mr. Black? All I know is the fact that whenever there was trouble at Hogwarts during your stay at the school, you, Pettigrew and the _werewolf_ Remus Lupin were right in the thick of it. It does not bode well for your cause that your closest friends, people who could possibly influence young Harry, are an illegal animagus and a _werewolf."_

"Albus, that will be quite enough." Madam Bones stood. "Mr. Black does not have to have proof, I have it. I have sealed pensieve memories and the transcripts where Sirius Black was questioned under Veritaserum the night of James and Lily Potter's murders. Mr. Black is a decorated Auror who has, along with Auror Moody, led the efforts to bring Pettigrew to justice, even receiving serious injuries in the line of duty. His healer, Doctor Sarah Nalett, is here to attest to the injuries if need be." Amelia pointed at the young woman with Sirius and Dumbledore inwardly groaned. How could he of not recognized one of his most brilliant students? Amelia continued, "Besides, there is no reason to slander Auror Black in this court, he has not put forth a petition for custody."

This had the effect of dropping a bombshell in the court. "If that is true Mr. Black, why are you here?" Dumbledore was confused, a state that displeased him greatly.

"I am here to see that the right thing is done. Harry is my godson. James and Lily stated in their will, Mr. Steinman can attest to it, that I was the first choice for guardian of Harry. I find myself in a position where I cannot fulfill that trust. I am in a very dangerous job, I am unmarried so I would have no one to care for Harry when I am working. Harry could possibly be in danger from Pettigrew simply because Pettigrew knows my habits and knows where I live. I live in muggle London in a multi family flat. Although I do have a family estate, I do not want to subject Harry to the influence of my only living relative, my mother. She would probably try to smother him in his crib, either her or that demented house elf of hers. That is why I am asking that the panel place Harry in James and Lily's alternate choice, the home of Frank and Alice Longbottom. The Longbottoms have filed a counter petition for custody in this matter. They have a fine family and a loving home. Harry would also be raised as a wizard instead of having to endure the problems that he might face in a muggle environment."

Albus could feel the tide start to turn against him. He made a gamble on a longshot. "But Mr. Black, surely you can see where the best people to raise Harry would be blood relatives.."

Steinman stepped up. "Grand Wizard, the Potter wills specifically state that the parents did not want Harry to be sent to her sister under any circumstances. In order to violate that prohibition, you would have to have very good reasons why it would be in the child's best interest."

Dumbledore played his trump card. "I believe that we could all agree that the safety of the child should be foremost in all of our minds. I have placed special wards on the Dursley home that will protect Harry from any and all magical people who might want to harm him. They are based on the sacrifice that his mother made and only require a drop of his blood and that of his aunt to activate them. As long as the related blood of his aunt and cousin are in that home, he will be protected." He could see members of the panel nodding their heads, impressed with his wisdom.

"That's another thing, Albus," Madam Bones cut in. "I went by the Dursley home and analyzed the wards. I would like to know why you were putting up blood wards that have been banned by 10 different international treaties as well as having been illegal in Britain for over 40 years, ever since they were abused by the forces of the Dark Lord Grindlwald! Had you have actually completed the wards with the blood magic, I would have been forced to arrest you for the practice of dark blood magic! And, in the case of Harry Potter, they would not have worked."

The court broke out in noise, different members shouting at Bones, Dumbledore, and each other. Dumbledore shot out sparks and a loud BANG from his wand to quiet the court. "What do you mean, they would not work?"

"I am going to have to let someone else answer that. I call Petunia and Vernon Dursley!" The couple that Dumbledore did not recognize stepped forward. The man had a sneer on his face and was rapidly turning a deep purple colour. Petunia also had a sneer that would make Lucius Malfoy jealous. Vernon started their '_testimony._

Vernon looked at Bones. "Thanks…._freak"_ There were gasps of outrage throughout the court. "I may hate your type, but at least you showed some decency." He then addressed the court as a whole. "The way I understand it, Pet's freak sister made a baby freak with that worthless piece of rubbish she married. Then they got themselves blown up by some other freak that you guys couldn't control. The freak baby offed the big freak and now you want to stick the little mutant with us so other freaks won't kill him. It's not going to happen. All of you abominations should have either been drowned at birth or had the abnormality beaten out of you. You try to stick him with us and that is what will happen to him. Either that or I will drop him off in some orphanage outside the country. You freaks can just clean up your own messes and leave us _normal_ people alone!"

Petunia stepped closer. "The only thing that I disagree with my husband on is the drowning and beating, but only because he could get in trouble for doing the world a favor and getting rid of one of you freaks. I do agree with him about dumping the brat at an orphanage, preferably one far, far away. Besides, your so-called blood wards won't work because _Lily was never my sister!" _At the shocked response of the court, she continued. "Lily was adopted by my family when I was 2 years old. It was the stupidest thing they ever did, allowing a mutant like that into a normal family. I won't have you freaks trying to push another freak off on me and maybe infecting my normal son! So let us get out of here and never bother us again!"

Amelia smiled. The Wizengamot was in an uproar, the only things that kept them from hexing the Dursleys were the ward she had put up around the witness area and the stubbornness of the members to not allow the muggles the satisfaction of being right in their estimation of wizarding society. There was one more thing to do however. Amelia turned and quietly spoke to the members about what needed to be done. At their agreement, she then nodded to the magical people in the witness gallery. They took this as their cue to step away from the Dursleys. Amelia and Lady Marchbanks pointed their wands at the Dursleys and shouted, "_Obliviate!" _Amelia spoke to the Dursleys. "You will not remember any of this, magic is a myth. Your adopted sister was not magical, she was killed soon after high school in an automobile accident. You have never heard of Hogwarts and have nothing but scorn for idiots who believe that magic exists. Magic is fantasy, something in books and on the telly. Since you do not believe in it, it does not bother you."

Two Aurors came up and took the Dursleys out of the courtroom. They portkeyed them, still in an unknowing stupor, back to their car before giving them the suggestion that they were out on a shopping trip for their son. Petunia and Vernon were then enervated and sent happily on their way, free to live their perfectly _normal_ lives.

Back in the courtroom, Dumbledore was furious. He had been thwarted at every step. Things had gone from bad to worse when Amelia had taken him aside after the Dursleys had left and given him an ultimatum.

"Albus, you went too damn far this time. I have been collecting a folder on your actions for quite a while. Not only did you almost cause an international incident using banned blood wards, I also recognized some of your work inside the house. That vase you spelled as an antipathy generator. Those people have enough hostility to magic without spurring it on. Harry would not have come out of that house alive. Did you even know how much Petunia hated Lily and blamed magic? Did you want Harry to be so grateful to you when he got his Hogwarts letter, taking him out of a place where everyone hates him that he would be your perfect little protégé? I'm giving you fair warning right now, stick your nose in one more time where it shouldn't be and that folder will be opened and you will be stuck so far down in Azkaban that the Dementors will have to dig tunnels to get to you. And remember this also. I am immune to memory charms, I can throw off the Imperious, and I am an expert Occlumens so quit your sorry attempts at Legimency before I throw you across the room. You are the Headmaster of a school, not God, so get over it!" She rudely shoved him out of her way and resumed her place.

Dumbledore was forced to make a desperate attempt to save face. He put on his best grandfatherly look and addressed the court. "Madam Bones, I commend you for digging further and finding out the true unsuitability of the Dursleys. I made some foolish mistakes, blame an old man for wanting to assure the safety of our little hero, Harry. I hereby withdraw my petition and recommend to the panel that the petition of Frank and Alice Longbottom be granted. Mr. Black, as godfather of little Harry, I urge you to set a responsible example when you visit him. If there is nothing else, the panel shall now vote on the petition."

The vote was unanimous, there had been other filers for guardianship, however they were in neither the will or Dumbledore's good graces so they were discarded. Dumbledore quickly adjourned the session and left before Sirius could lay hands on him.

Sirius turned to Sarah, wanting to thank her for coming to support him. She had been quite impressed with his passion to do the right thing as far as Harry was concerned. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "If you ever want that special spot behind your ear scratched, give me a call."

Sirius gave a happy barking laugh. "I'd love to, just leave the castrating tools behind. Oh, and by the way, can you do something about that damned microchip?"

"Not a chance, pal. I think that someday I might want to make sure that I can keep track of you."


	5. Home, Sweet Home

**Chapter 5**

**Home, Sweet Home**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Lower Level Detention Area_

Lucius Malfoy sat on the steel bunk with his head in his hands. How could everything have gone so wrong in so little time? Just last month he and his comrades were going about their business, working to bring the wizarding world under the iron fist of his master. The muggle baiting and killing, the revels, he at the Dark Lord's right hand. By Merlin, he was supposed to be the next Minister of Magic! Now he was sitting in a cell next to that loser Rudolphus Lestrange and his equally loser brother, Rastaban. A couple of cells down was his wife's nutty sister, Bellatrix. There was one who had really gone off the deep end. Headfirst with no water in the pool. She just kept cackling about the Dark Lord returning and talking in that baby voice. When she got to Azkaban the Dementors would not have much to work with.

Lucius had been captured while he and Barty Crouch were following an Auror team trying to locate Pettigrew. Barty had been able to appirate out before he was seen but Lucius had not been so lucky. Lucius gave another groan and thought about his options. His shyster solicitor had suggested claiming that he was under the Imperius Curse and greasing the palms of as many Wizengamot members as possible. That and having Cissy make a big donation to Cornelius Fudge's campaign to replace Minister Bagnold. That, along with a hefty donation to St. Mungo's should get him off the hook. Get some favorable press and buy his way out. It was a plan worthy of a Malfoy. He didn't know what he would do if it didn't.

"_I can't go to Azkaban!"_ he thought. _"I'm too young, handsome, and have too nice hair to sit in a stinking cell in my own crap while being sucked dry by Dementors!" _His thoughts were disturbed by the guard getting up from his chair and rubbing his belly.

"I'm going to go get a nice lunch at that new Italian place down the street," the guard sneered. Putting on a phony deferential tone, the guard asked. "Can I get you anything? Maybe some lasagna, spaghetti, or raviolis? No, how about some of that nice, soft warm bread? Oh, that's right. You're _prisoners!_ I must have forgotten. I'll have the elves bring down your gruel and water when I get back." He wagged his finger. "Now don't go anywhere!" With that, the guard, without a backward glance, strode over to the door and went through, locking it behind him. Lucius shook his head and daydreamed of the exquisite tortures that he would inflict upon that guard should he get out and run across him in a different circumstance. The Cruciatus curse would be the least of his problems. The manor house had several large wooded areas where a body, once buried, would never be found.

A scraping sound jarred his thoughts, bringing him to attention. There on the other side of the cell door was the cretin he had been trying to capture when he was caught. Wormtail had a self satisfied look on his face that Lucius would just love to wipe off. He sneered. "Wormtail, what are you doing here? And how did you get here without getting caught? Are you just some fool Gryffindor sticking his head inside the lion's den or is there a reason for your visit?"

"How I got here is no concern, I came to help if I could. I brought this." Wormtail held up a small silver clip shaped like a snake. "It's a portkey. Pin it inside your robes and when they go to transport you, activate it by saying the Dark Lord's name. Do that once you are past the wards and it will take you to your house. You can take it from there."

"Wormtail, you do surprise me even now. I knew the Dark Lord kept you around for a reason. What about our comrades?" he asked, gesturing toward the Lestranges. They had not noticed Pettigrew whispering to Lucius.

"No way, they're friggin nuts!" Peter hissed. "That bitch wants to kill me! You're worth saving, those twits will go to Azkaban with a smile on their lips." Lucius could not find it in himself to disagree.

"I will use this as a last resort. I have a plan that should get me free from here and in good graces. If it doesn't work, I will owe you a debt. And I always pay my debts. What are your plans?"

"I've got one, but I need to keep it close to the vest. If I hear that you were convicted, I will contact your wife. If not, just know that I will be close." Hearing a noise from the door area, Wormtail ducked around a corner and disappeared. When the guard came back in the cellblock, he did not notice the well fed rat slip past him and into the corridor.

Thirty minutes later and two floors up, Peter was hiding in the atrium waiting for a chance to slip out of the Ministry unnoticed. He was not paying attention to his surroundings and therefore was surprised when he was picked up by a small red-haired boy.

"Oi, Dad! Look what I found!" The boy, Percy Weasley, had come down to the Ministry with his father, a minor bureaucrat. It was "Take your kid to work day" at the Ministry and young Percy was having the time of his life. "Can I keep him? Please Dad? Please?"

Percy's father, Arthur Weasley looked at the rat. "Fine looking specimen, Percy. He seems pretty tame too. He must be a magical rat looking for a familiar." Wormtail squeaked and nodded his head vigorously. This beat hiding in the sewers for the next fifty years or so! "Arthur laughed at the rat's antics. "Well Percy, It looks like you have a new pet." He put his arm around his son and walked toward the floo access. Percy put the rat in his pocket and followed his father. When they got to the outbound floo, they met another worker coming out of the inbound.

"Hello Arthur, going home?"

"Sure am. You going on duty?

"Yeah, no rest for the wicked. 'Night Arthur."

"Goodnight, Sirius. Come along, son." Percy never noticed how his new pet quivered in fear at the bottom of his pocket.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

"Evening, Sirius"

"Hey, Frank. What's interesting tonight?"

"Nothing much. Been really quiet today. Crouch wants to bring in a couple of Dementors to baby-sit the prisoners downstairs until their trials, but the Minister is having a fit about it. Crouch is going to win this one though, he's got Amelia on his side. They are claiming that Malfoy and the Lestranges are too much of an escape risk to leave to us. With Pettigrew still on the loose I have got to agree"

Sirius shivered. He hated the Dementors. Yes, they were a necessary evil, but if it was up to him, he would somehow figure out how to destroy them. If those things ever broke away from Ministry control, they could wipe out the country. At least they didn't, as far as he knew, have the ability to reproduce. Still, it would not hurt his feelings if Malfoy and crew got a bit of a taste of what they were going to face if convicted. He figured that Malfoy would attempt to buy his way out.

"Speaking of the Malfoys," Sirius said. "I have a contact at Gringotts who says that Narcissa is spreading money to certain members of the Wizengamot. I leaned on Darius Pirzadeh yesterday and found out that Narcissa has asked to see him tonight. Mad-Eye and I are going to work a bit of a sting tonight. Moody made Pirzadeh disappear for a bit and I will be going in his place. Maybe we can find out what my cousin is planning. Lucius may have some company by morning."

"Sounds like fun. Let me know if you need any help. For now though, I need to get home to Alice and the kids."

"Ah, yes. Frank, how is Harry doing? Does he need anything?"

"He's fine. You ought to see him and Neville getting along. They have really been good for each other. I took them both for a broom ride last Saturday. You would think they were born on a broom; they both took to it so well. And Neville showed his first bit of magic yesterday, right along with Harry."

Sirius cocked an eyebrow. "Really, what happened?"

"Alice told Missy to put the boys down for their nap. When she went in the room, they were playing with a ball, sending it back and forth, but they were levitating it! Missy went to take the ball away from them to put them down and suddenly found herself back down in the kitchen. I'm not sure which one did it, maybe both, but it freaked Missy out. Alice found her in the kitchen crying because she failed to take care of the kids. Alice had to go in there with her and lay the law down to the boys. Somehow I don't think they will do _that_ again."

Sirius snickered. "Hell, Frank. The Marauders ride again. When those two get to Hogwarts, they may break our records for detentions."

"Sure enough. So, dinner on Friday night?"

"Yeah, mind if I bring a date?"

"Sarah?"

"Yeah. I'm really starting to get comfortable having her around, and Harry really likes her also."

"Sounds serious. Sure, bring her along, she and Alice get along like gangbusters."

"Okay. Well, you had better get home before Alice gets worried. I'll call you if there are any problems."

Frank headed out of the office to the floo and Sirius looked over the daily reports while waiting for Moody. A couple of minutes into it, the cellblock guard came up looking somewhat disturbed.

"Auror Black, I think we may have a problem with Malfoy."

"Oh, what kind of problem?"

"When I went to lunch earlier, he was really in a blue funk, looked like the end of the world was staring him in the face. When I came back, he was upbeat and cocky. He didn't have any visitors but something changed."

Moody had slipped into the office and listened to the guard's suspicions. "Good job, Iverson. Sometimes noticing little things like that can save your life. I knew you were a good student when I trained you." He grinned. "I believe it might be time to do a bit of a cell search on Mr. Malfoy."

Iverson smiled, something that was almost as scary as Mad-Eye's smile. They were definitely cut from the same bolt of cloth. "Thanks Auror Moody. I want to see the look on his face when I tell him about the body cavity search. The muggles do have some good ideas on occasion."

Thirty minutes later, Malfoy was outraged, Bellatrix was doubled over with laughter at his plight, and the portkey was safely in the hands of the Aurors. Mad-Eye had confirmed that the clip was a portkey and Lucius was questioned under Veritaserum to find out where it came from. Mad-eye erected anti-animagus wards in the cellblock and Malfoy had a charge of attempted escape added to his alleged crimes."

"You know, Malfoy, if you had tried that escape plan after your trial, the Dementors would have hunted you down. The standing order for them is to administer the Kiss to any person even attempting escape."

Malfoy sneered. "I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not going to be convicted. And when I get released, I am going to ruin you."

"Big talk, Malfoy," Sirius said. "You're going to spend the rest of your miserable life in Azkaban. But I'll tell you what. Don't give us any more problems and I will ask one of the Dementors to wear pink panties so you won't miss my cousin Narcissa too much."

Malfoy was locked back away and the two Aurors went back upstairs to leave him to the tender mercies of the cellblock guard. "Ready to go, Black?" Moody asked.

"Sure. Got the polyjuice?"

"Fresh from the lab. I brought along a few of Pirzadeh's hairs."

"What did you do with him?"

"Got him locked in my trunk so he can't blow the whistle to Mrs. Malfoy. If all goes well, he has agreed to testify against her to save his own arse. Might as well get going. You go straight there, I'll apparate with our back up about a quarter mile down the lane. Watch out for their house elf though, Pirzadeh says that he is a real nutter."

"Aren't they all"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Malfoy Manor_

Sirius, posing as Darius Pirzadeh, had been welcomed into Malfoy Manor and given a cup of tea while waiting for Narcissa. Moody was right, the house elf, Dobby, was even stranger than the usual class of servant. He figured that Narcissa would have him giving himself punishments on a regular basis. He was so hyper and Cissy was oh, so refined. A few minutes later, Narcissa came in and got right down to business.

"Darius, I called you here to ask you to make sure that Lucius does not get convicted. I am prepared to make it well worth your while."

"Narcissa, I am but one vote. Do you have others?"

"Yes, I have given several people the same offer."

"As to the _offer, _what are you suggesting?"

"A thousand galleons now and another five thousand when Lucius is freed. Is that acceptable to you?"

Sirius/Pirzadeh gave her a surprised look. "That is some serious money, especially if you are bribing enough members to ensure an acquittal."

Narcissa laughed. "Some members are already predisposed to vote for acquittal. You however, are one of the more _independent_ members."

Sirius reached up and pulled on his ear lobe, activating the communication device hidden there to summon the rest of the team that the time was ripe for the raid. "In that case, let's see the money."

Narcissa sent the house elf to bring a bag of gold down into the drawing room. When he had, Sirius counted the money, stood and shook hands with Narcissa. "You just bought yourself a vote."

At that moment, the front door was blasted off the hinges. The elf, Dobby, squeaked in terror and disappeared. Moody and three hit wizards rushed into the room while Sirius grabbed Narcissa and placed her into anti-magic cuffs. Moody walked up to her and smiled.

"Narcissa Malfoy, you are under arrest for bribery of a Wizengamot member."

"You can't do this! Darius, are you in on this? Why are you betraying me?"

Sirius looked at his watch. "3-2-1…." He began changing back into himself. "Sorry Cissy, but you stepped in it this time. We will find out who else you bribed though. I'm sure that you will enjoy their company in Azkaban."

Narcissa glared at Sirius and spat. "I should have known. The white sheep of the Black family. Mark my words, this is not over."

Sirius shook his head sadly. "Yes it is. I warned you against marrying Malfoy. Now he has dragged you down with him."

Just then, Dobby reappeared. He saw Narcissa in cuffs and gasped. "Mistress Malfoy! Dobby is so sorry!" He began to bang his head against the floor.

Narcissa got a sadistic smile on her face. _"Cousin,_ may I borrow your glove?" Sirius, knowing what she was wanting to do, removed his glove and handed it to her. She tossed it to Dobby. "You are _worthless! _You failed to protect me. I am dismissing you from my service!"

She was surprised when Dobby did not break down in tears, but rather stared at the glove with an almost worshipful look on his face. "Mistress has freed Dobby! Oh, thank you, Mistress!"

Moody shook his head and grinned at Sirius. "I told you that he was a nutter."

Sirius went over to Dobby and bent down. "Dobby, is it?" When the elf nodded, he continued. "Dobby, would you like to come to work for me?"

"Oh, yes, Mr. Black. But Dobby is a free elf and will be wanting wages and clothes."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. How much do you want?"

Dobby thought about it for a minute. "Dobby wants two knuts a week and one day off a year. Dobby also wants Master to buy him clothes."

"Hmm… How about a galleon a week and one day off a week. I will outfit you in a uniform."

Dobby's eyes grew even larger. "Dobby could not accept more than one galleon a month and one day off a month, with Master buying Dobby's uniforms."

"Whoa. You drive a hard bargain, Dobby. I'll tell you what. I'll accept those terms, but you cannot call me Master, you have to call me either Sirius or Mr. Black." He held out his hand.

Dobby gravely took his hand and shook it. Moody looked quizzically at Sirius. "Black, have you gone 'round the twist? Why are you hiring a house elf?"

"Simple. With Lucius and Narcissa both in custody, I am Draco's closest relative. It is my responsibility to see that he is cared for."

"And just how do you plan to do that? You weren't able to take custody of the Potter kid, what makes you think Dumbledore will not interfere with you now?"

"Draco is not 'The Boy Who Lived'. He would have a hard time interfering with a blood relationship. I am Head of my House, whether my mother likes it or not. I have been thinking about this, when we get back, I am going to take a leave of absence to make all of the necessary arrangements." He looked over at Dobby. "Dobby, I want you to take Draco and all of his things to my flat in London. I will be home in the morning."

"Yes, Mr. Black sir!" The elf popped out to begin his new job. Moody took one of Narcissa's arms while Sirius took the other.

"Come on, Mrs. Malfoy. We have a nice warm vial of Veritaserum waiting for you at the office." Moody took out a portkey, held it against Narcissa, and Sirius grabbed on. Moody activated it and they disappeared, leaving the rest of the team to search the house for more evidence.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

After questioning Narcissa under Veritaserum, Sirius called all of the Aurors including Frank and Amelia. The spent the night conducting raids on Wizengamot members who Narcissa had bribed. The Gringotts goblins confirmed the large withdrawals that Narcissa had made and the resulting deposits of the recipients of her largess. One by one, the bribed members, when faced with a term in Azkaban, turned the ill gotten money over to the Aurors and agreed to testify against Narcissa. There were enough counts to make sure that she never saw the outside of prison in her lifetime.

It was an exhausted Sirius Black that used the came out of the fireplace at his flat. He stepped out of the fireplace to see Dobby and another elf he recognized as his mother's elf, Kreacher, yelling at each other, but no sound was coming from them. Dobby noticed him, and waved his hand, returning sound to the flat.

"Mr. Black, sir. Dobby put up a silencing charm so this _elf_,…" he spat the word while glaring at Kreacher. "….. would not wake up the little master."

"I appreciate that, Dobby. Kreacher," he said brusquely, "What do you want?"

"Young Master, disgrace that he is, broke his mother's heart…."

"Don't give me that, Kreacher. She doesn't have a heart."

The elf glared at Sirius. "As Kreacher was saying, Young Master needs to come home, Mistress has passed away."

Sirius sat down in shock. He loathed what his mother had become in the past twenty or so years, but it was still a shock finding out that she had died. There would never be the chance to try and heal their relationship. "All right, Kreacher. I'll make the arrangements. Go to the house and sit with the body. Make her presentable and I'll come with the morticians." The elf nodded curtly and popped out.

"Dobby, I have to leave for a while. Will you be alright watching Draco?"

"Oh yes, Mr. Black. Dobby watches and cares for the little master all of the time anyway."

"Good enough, I'll be back as soon as I can. If a lady named Sarah comes by, explain what has happened and ask her to get in touch with me tomorrow." When Dobby nodded his understanding, Sirius went to the fireplace, threw in some floo powder and called out, "Leeks and Son Funeral Home!"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_12 Grimmauld Place_

_London_

The funeral home workers were, if nothing else, efficient. Sirius had gone to the funeral home, made the burial arrangements, the escorted the workers to the Black family home. By this time, he was exhausted, and not in the mood to listen to Kreacher's mutterings. It did not help matters any that his mother's portrait chose that time to wake up and begin berating him. She also yelled out instructions to the funeral home employees regarding the way she wanted her funeral. Fortunately, they took it in stride, looking over to Sirius for confirmation. He shook his head.

"No guys, don't listen to her, I'm the one paying the bill." Turning toward the portrait, he gave a Black worthy sneer. "Mother, you are about to reap what you have sown. There is not going to be a big funeral where a bunch of old, evil hags like you can sit and commiserate about how far the family has fallen. No, what is going to happen is these men are going to take your body away, it will be cremated and your ashes scattered. Where those ashes are scattered will be the only decision. There will be a notice in the _Prophet_ that you have passed on and the burial will be private. So it's up to you, if you shut up, I will scatter the ashes someplace like Stonehenge, but if you keep screeching, you'll find yourself in a dumpster in an alley in muggle London behind some Chinese restaurant." The painting immediately shut up.

The last order of business for the day was Kreacher. The house elf had been muttering insults and veiled threats the entire time the funeral workers had been there. After they left, Sirius summoned the elf.

"Kreacher, is there anyone who you would prefer to work for?"

"Worthless Master would let Kreacher go work for a worthy family?" the elf said in wonder. "Kreacher would go work for the Malfoys or Lestranges in a heartbeat."

Sirius laughed. "I'm afraid that isn't going to happen, that bunch is on their way to Azkaban. I can tell that you hate me just as much as my dearly departed mother did, so you will never work directly for me. For now, stay here and keep the portraits company while decide just what I am going to do with you and with this house. You might try cleaning it a bit. Maybe I can find some evil dark lord who wants a summer house."

"Master would find someone like that to sell the house and Kreacher to? Maybe Young Master is not as worthless as Kreacher thought." Sirius rolled his eyes and left, using the floo to his flat.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Sirius arrived home at about 7:00 am, dead on his feet. He found Draco and Dobby in the kitchen, with the child in a high chair eagerly taking bites of banana, smearing them on his face before finally getting them in his mouth. Sirius watched the scene for a moment, wishing that it was Harry in the high chair instead of Narcissa's whelp. _"Nothing to be done about that now, maybe I can at least raise this one so that he doesn't turn out like his father."_ He put on a smile and greeted Dobby.

"Good morning, Mr. Black sir. Would sir like some breakfast?" Sirius' stomach rumbled in response.

"Something light if you have it. I plan to go to sleep soon. Did Sarah come by?"

"Yes, sir. Miss Nalett just left before you came home. She said that she would stop by after work at 5:00."

"Excellent," said Sirius, taking the muffin with butter and jam that Dobby offered. "I am going to head into bed. Wake me up about 4:00. Will you be okay with Draco during that time?"

"Oh yes, sir. Little Master will be in good hands. Dobby will make sure of that."

"Very well, good day, Dobby." Sirius stumbled to his bedroom to begin a well deserved rest.


	6. Moving Right Along

**Chapter 6**

**Moving Right Along**

_Longbottom Manor_

_Two years later_

Things had moved on in the wizarding world. Lucius Malfoy had been convicted of multiple counts of murder, no longer having the bought and paid for votes of certain Wizengamot members. He had been sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss. The sentence had been carried out in front of his wife, shortly before her trial on multiple counts of bribery and corruption. Narcissa had been sentenced to 47 years in Azkaban, she lasted two before going completely insane and committing suicide by tearing a strip of her robe off and hanging herself with it.

Rastaban and Rudolphus Lestrange had received life sentences; but since they had no remorse for their deeds, the Dementors did not really affect them too badly. Bellatrix had also been given a life sentence but since she was insane before entering prison, the Dementors did not affect her at all. She quickly struck up a sort of friendship with some of them and could be found on certain nights playing exploding snap with the feared Azkaban guards. It had even been rumored that she had attempted a reverse Dementor's Kiss in an attempt to take a soul from a Dementor who had lost a particularly vicious game of Snap. Thankfully this was only a rumor, she had actually been demonstrating a French kiss for the clueless creature.

Peter Pettigrew had settled into daily life with the Weasley family. He would occasionally slip out of the house, transform and apparate to different places to break up the monotony of his life. He always went disguised. He often went to the Malfoy manor house, keeping his stash of purloined money and goods in the hidden space in the drawing room. The manor house was the only thing left to the Malfoy fortune; it was entailed so that the Ministry was unable to seize it for reparations. The house would be kept in pristine shape until either Draco or one of his descendents claimed it for their own. Should there be no more direct Malfoy heirs, the house and contents would be sold with the proceeds going to charity.

None of this affected little Draco, he was being raised in a loving home by his cousin. He was kept away from most of the old pureblood families who had ties to the Death Eaters. He did spend a lot of time at the Longbottom home playing with Harry and Neville. The three grew up more as brothers than friends, exploring life as magical children, playing pranks and generally getting into the normal trouble that three years olds from time immemorial had caused.

Sirius had resigned his position as an Auror to manage the vast Black estate, taking both magical and muggle college courses in estate management. Following the recent death of Narcissa, he made Draco his heir. Sirius had also continued his relationship with the lovely Dr. Sarah Nalett, the only person who really understood Sirius' canine personality. Another old friend, Remus Lupin, had returned to Britain following the deaths of the Potters and had, after abject apologies from Sirius, become a big part of the lives of both Harry and Draco. Lupin became somewhat of an unofficial godfather for Draco; the real godfather, Severus Snape not being allowed around the lad. Lucius' will had actually given custody of Draco to Severus, however being a condemned criminal, the will had been declared invalid. Lupin became a middle man, bringing news of Draco to Severus since Sirius and Snape could never get past their schoolboy hatred of each other, even for Draco's sake.

Lupin had become gainfully employed in a position that straddled both worlds. Officially he worked for Dr. Nalett as a veterinary technician. His actual work was helping her with her newly acquired contracts with the Ministry, Hogwarts and other institutions and families providing care for magical creatures. He was paid in Muggle currency and had his bank accounts in a muggle bank. There were enough prejudices in the magical world against werewolves that it behooved him to keep a low profile. He lived comfortably, but not extravagantly. He did, however, not have to dress in worn and patched clothes. Once a month Remus and Sirius would take a couple of days and run together in the Forbidden Forest during the full moon. During those days, Draco would spend the nights at the Longbottom home with his playmates. This was one of those nights. Sirius and Remus had dropped Draco off and apparated to Hogsmeade carrying their brooms. They would then fly to the edge of the forest and leave their brooms with Hagrid.

The three lads had played, eaten dinner, then dropped off to sleep. Draco awakened about 2:00 am and shook Harry and Neville until they also awoke. The boys crawled out of bed, and after a bit of discussion, crept downstairs and raided the icebox for the remains of dessert. Not bothering to clean up after themselves, after all, they were just three and a half years old, they got the idea to take Harry and Neville's toy brooms outside and do some flying. Unfortunately, there were three boys and only two brooms. This was solved by sneaking into the closet and swiping Frank's Nimbus 1000. All three boys could fit on it and they would take turns controlling the broom. This promised to be a great adventure, a real broom and no adults to set boundaries. They slipped out of the front door, climbed aboard with Neville in control, and kicked off. They flew around the property for a bit, then decided to explore the small lake located just past the edge of the wards. Since they were all three keyed into the wards, it did not raise any alarms, at least with the human inhabitants of the manor.

Remus was not the only werewolf in Britain enjoying this crisp, clear night. One of Voldemort's old allies, Fenir Greyback, had returned to Britain recently. He had been living in the woods not too far from the Longbottom home. He had, on many occasions, attempted to bypass the wards, however was constantly rebuffed. Greyback was the kind of werewolf that liked to bite young, magical children, as he had done to Remus at age six. This evening, he spotted the children flying on the broom and watched to see if they would foolishly venture out past the wards. When they headed toward the lake, he began to run to intercept them. As small as they were, he could eat two and still turn one.

The house-elf, Missy, awoke with a start. Something was wrong in her secure little world. She popped into the kitchen and saw the mess left by the three children. Popping up to their room, she discovered that they had not returned to their beds. She stretched out her senses, those which allow a house-elf to locate their family members wherever in the world they may be, and felt the boys outside the wards. Not stopping to raise an alarm, she popped out to the area to see the boys landing Frank's broom by the lakeshore. She popped over to them in time to see the werewolf running full tilt toward her charges. Placing herself between them, she turned with a fury that only an enraged house-elf could muster.

"**Bad Doggy!!!"** Popping her fingers, she picked up the charging werewolf and slammed him into a boulder, then dropped him into the lake. Turning toward the boys, she ordered, "Fly to home, little masters! The bad doggy will hurt you!" As the boys jumped on the broom, she levitated Greyback out of the water, conjured a rolled up copy of the _Daily Prophet_, and proceeded to whack him firmly on the nose. Seeing that this did not really have the desired effect, she banished the newspaper, conjured a Quiddich beater bat, and began to give the werewolf what she considered to be proper punishment for threatening her children. She continued this until she sensed that the boys were back to the house. Not knowing that this werewolf was a killer who enjoyed his curse, thinking it might have been an innocent victim who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, she conjured a sturdy cage and locked Greyback into it. She would leave him in there and let the Master sort it out in the morning. If he was an innocent, he would probably be invited to run in the Forbidden Forest with Misters Sirius and Remus on the full moons. Having done her good deed, she popped back to the house to find the boys in their beds, feigning sleep. She took the Master's broom, put it back in the closet, and put a locking charm on the closet. She would let the Mistress deal with the little masters in the morning.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The next morning, while Remus was recovering in Hagrid's hut, Sirius flew back to Hogsmeade, then apparated to the Longbottom house. He found Alice at home with the three boys, and none of the four looked very happy. The three boys were sitting in little chairs in the drawing room, each in his own corner. When Alice and Frank had awakened that morning, Missy told them of the children's early morning adventure. Frank went out to check on the werewolf while Alice gave each of the naughty lads a swat on the butt and sat them in a corner. Sirius brought the boys out of the corner, gave them a stern lecture, then hugged each one, thanking the deities for good house-elves. He then asked about the werewolf in question.

"It was Fenir Greyback. Frank put him in restraints and took him in when he went to work. I doubt that he will even get a trial, he has been under a death sentence for a long time for turning children," Alice said.

"Yeah," said Sirius bitterly. "They consider the children victims long enough to put down the biter, then cast the children out of society. I swear, if Draco or Harry had been bitten, I would leave this screwed up society with them and move to the Canadian Territories with Remus to help. At least there, innocent werewolves are not persecuted."

"Yes, but what can we do here? When Bagnold retired and Fudge was elected, he pushed through all of those laws against 'dark creatures'."

"I'll tell you what I can do. I have money to set up a foundation to help werewolves, and I have a seat on the Wizengamot that I have never claimed. Right now I may just be one voice, but maybe I can do some good on the inside to change some attitudes. If you can watch Draco for a couple more days, I am going to Gringotts and get my family ring out of the vault and claim my seat."

"Good thinking, stop by and see Frank on your way, I know that he will sponsor you. With a light family head in your corner, you should have no problem. Also, as Draco's guardian, you can use the Malfoy vote by proxy."

Sirius grinned. "Wouldn't that just frost Lucius' arse if he was alive to see that. I should have Frank tutor me in the forms, since Regulus was the heir apparent, I never learned the ins and outs of the political arena."

"I'm sure he would be delighted. Even better than Frank would be his mum, she knows the true meaning of diplomacy." At Sirius' quizzical look, Alice explained. "Diplomacy is the art of being able to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

After stopping by Gringotts and retrieving his family ring, Sirius dropped in on his old office to find an ashen faced Frank Longbottom. Fenir Greyback had been 'dealt with'. Werewolves could not really be given the Dementor's Kiss since the disease was in the body; the soulless body would still make the change and the wolf would still emerge. The only two approved methods of execution were either the Veil of Execution in the Department of Mysteries, or beheading by axe at Azkaban Prison. Greyback had insisted on the axe, hoping that his executioner would somehow become infected by his blood. Frank had just returned from taking Greyback to his fate. He had thrown up several times on the ferry back to the mainland.

"I swear, Sirius, I have seen executions of all sorts, and I still can't stomach man's inhumanity to man. Beheading has to be the worst, even worse than the Kiss. Promise me, if anything ever happens to Remus to put him under suspicion, grab him, even if you have to break him out, and take him far, far away. I couldn't stand to see a friend go through the torture and humiliation that is given to dark creatures here. I did my duty, Greyback deserved everything he got, but still…."

"I know. Remus will be alright, he is careful on those nights. I plan on doing something about the conditions for werewolves in Britain." He explained his plan to enter the Wizengamot and set up a foundation to assist the werewolves.

"Go ahead and enter the Wizengamot, but you should hold off on the foundation until the whole thing with Greyback settles down. It will be all over the papers tomorrow. He hurt a lot of people over the years. Most of whom are still hurting. The others are dead. There won't be a whole lot of sympathy for the cause in the near future."

"Yeah, anyway, let's get off that subject for now. The boys sure stuck together on this whole thing. They are going to be junior Marauders someday, and they have a head start. The loyalty that those three have for each other is amazing."

"No surprise there. Ever since they were old enough for story reading, Alice has been drilling into them the importance of being loyal to your friends. She figured that there is no way that she would ever raise a Peter Pettigrew. What do you expect from a Hufflepuff?" he said with a grin.

"Speaking of the traitor, has there been any news on that front?"

"Not a peep. He seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. Don't worry, he will slip up someday and we'll have him. He is the most wanted man in Britain. Anyway, go grab your dress robes and get back here in a couple of hours. The Wizengamot will be going into session at 2:00 pm. I'll floo Alice and have Missy bring mine and we will get you seated today."

"What, so soon?"

"No time like the present. I'll call the doorkeeper and have it put on the agenda. Will you be announcing your intention to proxy vote the Malfoy seat?"

"Might as well. I can do that after I claim my seat, right?"

"Sure enough. Hurry back and we can go over what you need to do."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Wizengamot Chambers_

"_**Oyez, oyez! This regular session of the Wizengamot is now in session! Grand Warlock Albus Dumbledore presiding! All having business with this august body may now bring your petitions forward!"**_

Albus Dumbledore, looking ever the kindly grandfather, looked over the agenda placed in front of him. Various spending bills, recognition to be given to long term Ministry employees for years of service, the odd appointment or so, and a special item of business requested by Frank Longbottom. Hmm… that was unusual, Longbottom came to very few regular meetings unless asked. Maybe he was going to make some announcement regarding his department. But no, Madam Bones was here for that. Since the debacle over Harry Potter's guardianship, relations with the Longbottoms had been decidedly frosty. Albus had eaten a lot of humble pie on that one, but in the long run could not really object with the way Harry was treated. He would still keep an eye on the whole situation, ready to step in if he deemed it necessary.

Dumbledore was not really paying much attention to the audience gallery, there was the occasional field trip from Hogwarts seventh years studying Wizarding Government, a few bored reporters, and some curious citizens looking to kill a couple of hours by watching politicians doing their best to make fools of themselves. It was because of this that he missed the fact that Sirius Black and his lady friend, both dressed in formal robes, were in the gallery.

Over the next hour and a half, they ran through the agenda smoothly. Albus preferred this laid back way of doing the people's business, much better than during the war, when saying anything in opposition to Voldemort's corruption could get a member murdered after leaving the building. That very fate had befallen several good people during those dark days. It was only the belief that Voldemort would return that kept Albus from retiring and letting someone else take over. He stayed because he knew that when the darkness returned, he would need to hold power to rally an effective opposition. He never really thought about the fact that his beloved Order of the Phoenix never really did anything effective during the first war, it took a mother's love and ancient magic laid on a fifteen month old child to end the war.

"The next item on the agenda has been requested by Lord Frank Longbottom. Lord Longbottom, you may now make your petition," the Secretary announced.

"Thank you, Madam Secretary. My petition is in regards to Lord Sirius Black, heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. Lord Black was confirmed today by Gringotts as rightful Heir to his House. He is here to claim his seat in this august body."

Albus looked over his glasses at Sirius Black, now standing on the chamber's floor. This was an opportunity to possibly warm the relationship between himself and the other two heads of house by supporting Black in being seated.

"Well spoken, Lord Longbottom. Is there any person here with valid reasons why Lord Black should not claim his seat in this body? Seeing none, Lord Black, please raise your wand. Lord Sirius Black, do you swear to support this August Body, serving faithfully, and defending Magical Britain from all enemies, foreign and domestic?"

"I, Sirius Black, do so swear."

"So mote it be." At this, all of the seated members raised their wands. Gold threads of power branched off each upraised wand in the chambers, forming a golden dome, signifying the validity of the oath and the welcoming of the members to their new comrade.

"Grand Warlock," Sirius spoke. "I thank you and the other members for your welcome. I would like to announce my intention to cast proxy votes for my ward, Draco Malfoy, heir of the House of Malfoy until he reaches his majority." Sirius purposely did not call Draco's house "most noble" since he thought there was absolutely nothing noble about any Malfoy prior to Draco. He would have dropped the "most noble" out of the description of his own house, but was overruled by Frank. It would be up to him to make the House of Black "most noble". He had made a start on that. He sent Kreacher to Dumbledore, gifting him to Hogwarts to keep him away from Draco. Dumbledore promptly gave him to Snape as an assistant for a couple of reasons. The first reason was that their personalities were so similar, the second was to keep the elf from poisoning the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.

Sirius had planned to tear down or sell the old house on Grimmauld Place, but Sarah had begged him not to. She had spent much of her spare time remodeling and refurbishing the old house to bring it up to its former glory. After she removed the wall in the entrance area that held Mrs. Black's portrait and sent all of the other portraits to the family vault, she brought a crew in to remove all of the dark objects from the house, sending the books to the restricted section at Hogwarts and the other dark items to the Ministry for disposal. She then stripped out all of the dark paneling and, using wallpaper and paint, made the house light and cheerful. When Sirius found out that he owned the entire neighborhood, he began a bout of urban renewal, bringing the area up to modern standards and bringing in new tenants to get rid of the blight of the old neighbourhood.

Once the meeting was completed, Sirius made his way back to the gallery and found Sarah. Putting his arm around her, he asked, "Do you have any idea just how much I love you?"

Placing a kiss on his cheek, she said, "You may have mentioned it once or twice… a day… every day. And rest assured, _Lord Black_ " she snickered, "I love you every bit as much. Now that you have waded through the sewer of politics, let's go get some ice cream so you can get the nasty taste out of your mouth."

"Chocolate fudge cherry ripple!"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_A/N: Sorry about the long update time. I do have a curiosity question for you readers though. Since it had been quite some time since my last update on the story, I was surprised to see so many people recently marking this as a favorite story and requesting story alerts. I was curious how you came across the story. Was it in a C2 or one of the forums? Please PM me and let me know. As always, I appreciate each and every one of you and love reading the reviews. There was one reviewer that I plan to have some fun with though in the next chapter… can anyone guess which one it is?_


	7. The Trial of Severus Snape

**Chapter 7**

**The Trials of Severus Snape**

_A/N: This one is for Excessivlyperky!_

_Office of Marvin Sheistre, Solicitor_

_Knockturn Alley_

"Marvin, I have a request for you to drop in at the Ministry to see a new client," Lola Swaim, Marvin's gum chewing, red haired secretary said.

"New client? Did you ask the most important question?" Marvin was a no- nonsense man who could cut to the heart of a matter instinctually.

"Sure did, and yes, he can pay." This was the overriding concern here, after all, one did not support a law office and employees by being generous with their time. Time really was money to the legal profession.

"So, who is this new client?"

"Name is Severus Snape, he is on trial for Death Eater activities. He is being held in the Ministry holding area awaiting trial."

"Not at Azkaban?" the Solicitor asked in some surprise.

"Nope, he has a patron who is pulling for him. And get a load of this; his patron is Albus Dumbledore." Now this really surprised Sheistre, the number one guy on the side of light pulling for an accused Death Eater? If nothing else, it would make the case interesting. Granted, interesting doesn't pay the bills, but the publicity alone, should he clear the man, would be better than putting in a full page ad in the _Daily Prophet._

"Alright, floo them back and tell them that I will be over there after lunch. Meanwhile, I am going to sniff out some background on the guy. What can you tell me about him?"

"Twenty-three years old, has been the potions professor at Hogwarts for the last two years. Head of Slytherin house, by all accounts he is a snarky, unforgiving fellow who does not suffer fools gladly. According to the bio that Dumbledore put forward, eyes only, he has been spying on the Dark Lord for Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix."

"Dumbledore admitted that?" Sheistre was amazed. He never thought that Dumbledore would ever admit to even having that vigilante group, let alone admit to employing a schoolteacher as a spy. "Does he carry the Mark?"

"Yes, but Dumbledore claims that it was necessary. Dumbledore wants to keep the whole thing under wraps, get it swept under the rug with him as more or less a guardian of Snape."

"I'm sure he would, his hands are not exactly clean in this war, but just try to convince anyone else on the Light side to believe that. Those idiots would make shrines to that old bugger's turds if they could get away with it. Anyway, I will go talk to Mr. Snape, and try to get him the best deal possible. If that means burning Dumbledore's arse in the process, so much the better. Um… Dumbledore isn't the one guaranteeing payment, is he?"

"He wanted to, but for some reason Mr. Snape figured that it might not be in his best interest. Something about exchanging one master for another. Snape is putting up the deeds on some family properties as a guarantee of payment. One of the properties is his family's ancestral home."

"I've never heard of the Snape family, I'm sure that they are not in the Register. What kind of house could it be?"

"Snape wouldn't be in the Register, his father was a muggle. His mother however, was Eileen Prince, that is where he got the property."

"Oh, okay. I know the Prince manor house, used to go there as a kid. So, Eileen married a muggle…. No accounting for tastes, I suppose. I can take that as a retainer. I just hope that he can pay so that he doesn't lose the house. Of course, if he is convicted, he won't need it anyway, I hear that the trials have been brutal. Anyway, I am going to head over to Diagon Alley and see if I can get some sort of reading on this guy. If anyone comes in, tell them that I will be out for the remainder of the day. Oh, and get Phlatphoot on the whole Order of the Phoenix angle." Jerry Phlatphoot was an investigator who worked with Sheistre on an 'as needed' basis.

"Sure enough, boss." Lola finished making her notes and Sheistre grabbed his cloak and headed out the door.

_Diagon Alley_

Marvin Sheistre figured that the best way to get a feel for his client was to talk to people who knew him. As a potions professor at Hogwarts, that would mean the people at the Apothecary and students. The answers he got at the Apothecary were that Snape was a good customer, conscientious about getting only the finest supplies, and always paying his bills on time. It was when he dropped by Madam Maulkin's that he got a real feel for his client. There were several parents of Hogwarts students in the shop, and when Marvin asked for their opinions of their children's professor, it almost started a riot. Slytherin parents praised him to high heavens as the only teacher who would stand up against the bigotry from the other houses and protect their students, while Gryffindor parents, as one, despised him as an unfair cretin. The Ravenclaw parents were neutral, and parents of 'Puffs refused to get involved in the conversation. All of the ones who commented though did agree, if grudgingly, that Snape was a perfectionist when it came to his subject. Even one of the Gryffindor mothers, although she raged on about Snape's personality, admitted that her child was getting 'Outstanding' grades in his class because of his talent with the subject.

When Sheistre finished speaking to people, he caught a taxi to the new Italian restaurant down the block from the Ministry, and had a nice lunch before going to meet his client. After finishing his lasagna, he walked down to the 'out of order' phone booth and dialed the code number.

"Ministry of Magic, please state your name and business."

"Marvin Sheistre, solicitor. I am here to interview a client at the DMLE."

There was a slight giggle at the other end, and a badge came out of the coin return. Marvin saw red when he read it. 'Marvin Shyster, Defender of the guilty.'

"Excuse me, would you like to fix this badge, or should I speak to my good friend, Cornelius Fudge about your disrespect?"

"I'm sorry sir," was the panicked response. The badge disappeared and a new one came out. 'Marvin Sheistre, Solicitor. Client interview' read the new one.

"Much better," he growled, hanging up the receiver. The floor of the booth dropped down, depositing him in the atrium. He checked in his wand and headed up to the office of the DMLE. Upon arriving, he spoke to Frank Longbottom, who took him down to the holding cells. Marvin dismissed the Auror and took a good look at his new client.

Severus Snape did not look good. There were bruises on his face and neck; it appeared that he had been stricken with a blunt object. From his conversation with Auror Longbottom, Snape had willingly surrendered in the presence of both Longbottom and Madam Bones. These bruises also looked too recent to be from his pre-arrest period. Sheistre was outraged. He would be willing to bet that the bruises extended underneath his client's robes. Marvin quickly put up a silencing ward.

"So, Mr. Snape, what made you decide to contact me rather than let Albus Dumbledore handle it?" Right to the point, he wanted to see how much trust Snape had for Dumbledore.

Snape gave a bitter, half-laugh. "I began to see that Albus did not really have my best interests in mind. He wanted to forego a trial and have me paroled to his keeping. That would mean that I would be little better than a house elf. Should I disagree with him, he could hand me over to the Aurors to put in Azkaban. I would be no different than a pet on a leash." Sheistre's opinion of his client jumped several notches with that statement.

"In that case, I need to ask you something. Have you ever killed or used the Unforgivables?"

"Yes I have killed in defense of others, and no, I have not used Unforgivables. There were several times that people might say I used Unforgivables, but as you know, ninety percent of any spell is intent. I would be in a group that was using the Cruciatus curse, and there would be a red light also coming from my wand. I was not casting that particular curse, I would cast a different spell which had a red beam, one that would get lost in the others. I am.." he smirked. "…very adept at silent spellcasting. I have been at the site of many crimes where the Unforgivables were cast."

"Would you be willing to testify under Veritaserum?"

"Yes, but don't look for Albus to allow Veritaserum. He has too much to lose if the entire truth came out about his 'sacred' Order."

"You let me worry about that. Now, the biggest part of any trial is that there should be no surprises, at least on my part. I don't want to ask any question to which I don't already know the answer. I also don't want them asking any questions to which I do not know the answer. Having that in mind, we need to go over any testimony. Now, the first item is this………."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Courtroom 10_

_Two weeks later_

"_**Oyez, oyez! This court of the Wizengamot will now come to Order. Grand Warlock Albus Dumbledore presiding! Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge present! DMLE is represented by Madam Amelia Bones! This is the trial of Severus Snape, the accused is charged with Death Eater activity, membership in a banned terrorist organization, and casting of the Unforgivable Curses!"**_

"Before my client enters a plea to these charges, I would like to make a motion to ask Albus Dumbledore to remove himself from this case."

"Is there a good reason for this Mr….. " Madam Bones asked.

"Sheistre, Ma'am. Marvin Sheistre, solicitor for Mr. Snape. And yes, the defense plans to call Grand Warlock Dumbledore as a defense witness." This had the effect of stopping the court in shock. Albus had been caught in the middle of popping a lemon drop in his mouth, the drop hit his beard, fell and rolled across the floor. He fixed an eye toward Marvin.

"I don't remember receiving a summons as a witness."

"I'm sure that it was just an oversight on your part, sir. It was included in your agenda that was delivered to you at Hogwarts. When you accepted the parchments from the owl, the proof of service was registered with the court. I have a copy here if you can't find yours." Dumbledore silently cursed. The agenda, still unopened, was sitting on his desk.

Madam Bones fingered through her parchment work, finding the summons. "It appears to be in order, Albus. You will have to step down, the Minister will take your place. Please step over to the witness gallery.

"Madam Bones, there is no need for a trial as such," Dumbledore started. "I would be willing to take on Severus' parole should he not contest the charges. He has done great, selfless things for the Light during this last war. He should be honored, not tried."

"What does your client say to that, Mr. Sheistre? Would he be willing to plead no contest?"

"Madam, as _generous_ as Mr. Dumbledore's offer is, that would be the refuge of a guilty person. I have the great honor, one which does not come along very often, of representing an innocent man. My client enters a plea of 'not guilty' of all charges, and demands, as is his right, trial by Veritaserum."

"Now there should be no need for that!" Dumbledore was not quite at the panic mode yet, but he was close.

"Dumbledore," said Fudge silkily. "You are neither judge of this proceeding nor one of the attorneys. You are directed to take your seat in the witness galley and remain silent until called upon to testify. Any more outbursts will earn you a contempt citation. As for the defendant's demand for Veritaserum, I am granting it. It is the best way to make sure that justice is satisfied. If it was good enough for Sirius Black, who by the way, you slandered in order to make him out to be a traitor and murderer, it should be good enough for Mr. Snape, who you just so highly praised."

An Auror entered the courtroom with a sealed vial of Veritaserum, made note of the seal number, then opened it and administered the dosage to Snape.

"Madam Bones, you may begin your questioning," Fudge said.

"Mr. Snape. Are you loyal to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"No."

"Have you ever killed?"

"Yes."

"What were the circumstances behind that killing?"

"The Dark Lord ordered the murder of several muggles, two of whom were the parents of Lily Evens Potter. In my position of spy, I notified Albus Dumbledore of the attack. He promised to send Aurors to protect them. I accompanied the two Death Eaters assigned to the murder to the site. The promised Auror protection was not there. I killed one of the Death Eaters with a type of cutting curse which I developed, however I was unable to save the Evens'. The other Death Eater killed them. I made up a story that we had been attacked by Aurors which I gave to the Dark Lord."

"Do you know if Albus Dumbledore ever notified Auror Command?"

"He told me later that he did not. He said something about how it was a shame, but that their deaths were necessary to a larger plan."

"Mr. Snape, we have testimony from several people, many of whom were in You-Know-Who's service, that you were among them casting Unforgivables. Is this correct?"

"No, intent is supreme when casting spells; although I may have said the words, I was, with intent, casting other, harmless spells, the beam of which mimic those of Unforgivables. I could do this because I am quite proficient with silent spellcasting. I didn't really trust Albus' promise of immunity should I have to cast an Unforgivable. I would tell him that I had used Unforgivables, it seemed to please him."

"You say that Albus Dumbledore promised you immunity?"

"Yes, he said as Grand Warlock of the Wizengamot, that he had the power and right to do so." It was at this point that Albus Dumbledore got up from his seat in the gallery and began making his way out of the courtroom.

"Aurors, please hold Albus Dumbledore! Please do not let him leave. I look forward to cross examining him." Sheistre smiled. Dumbledore had just played into his hands. Madam Bones continued, "Mr. Snape, did you join the ranks of the Death Eaters willingly?"

"No, I was pressured into it by Lucius Malfoy. I was sixteen and had been the target of attacks by a group at school called the Marauders. They operated with full knowledge and approval, it seemed, of the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, and their Head of House, Minerva McGonagall. Lucius Malfoy and his friends were my only protection from these hooligans."

"What made you rethink your decision?"

"The first assignment that the Dark Lord sent me on, I was sickened at the pack mentality of the others. They were no different from the Marauders. They picked a helpless muggle and tortured him to death. I used faux curses, I believe the Jelly Leg curse was one, while they did the actual deed. When it was over, I made an excuse to join them later. I apparated to Hogsmeade, where I threw up. I then made my way to Hogwarts and asked Albus Dumbledore for protection and asylum."

"What was his response to your request?"

"He turned me down at first. When I pleaded with him, he said that I could be of much more use as a spy for his vigilante group, the Order of the Phoenix. He told me to do what I had to do to get close to the Dark Lord, and that he would smooth over any possible legal problems."

"Mr. Minister, I am satisfied that Mr. Snape has answered the charges. Mr. Sheistre, do you have any questions for your client?"

"Yes I do, Madam Bones. Mr. Snape, when I first saw you at the DMLE holding area, you had several bruises visible on your face and neck, were they there prior to your arrest?"

"No."

"How did you get them?"

"The guards, and one Auror, seemed to believe that I should have what they called a 'tune up' to make me more pliable.

"Did you ever give them cause to strike you?"

"That depends on what you call cause. The Auror, Sirius Black, demanded that I sign a parchment stating that I would not be allowed to visit my godson, Draco Malfoy, no matter what the results of my trial. I refused to sign, and that night I received my first beating."

"Was Auror Black present during the assault?"

"No, he came by the next day with the parchment, demanding once again that I sign it. I again refused. He left, and the beatings continued the next night. The guards implied that they would continue until I gave Auror Black what he wanted."

"Do you know if Auror Black ordered the beatings?"

"I could not say so, but I have my suspicions."

"No more questions for my client, Madam Bones, Mr. Minister. I would now like to call Albus Dumbledore to the stand."

The Auror administered the antidote to Snape and he once again began to focus. He glared at his Solicitor, he had not wanted the information about the beatings to come out. During this time, Dumbledore made his way down to the floor, conjured up an overstuffed wing back chair, and sat down.

"Mr. Dumbledore, do you plan to refute any of my client's testimony?"

"Yes, I do." Dumbledore was outraged at the way the trial was going. It was time for serious damage control.

"Are you willing to testify under Veritaserum?"

"No, my word as head of this body and of the Light should be good enough for this court."

"In that case, Madam Bones, we have no other questions for this witness. His refusal to testify under Veritaserum in order to refute testimony of my client, who did undergo Veritaserum, tells me that Mr. Dumbledore plans to perjure himself, lying under oath. I believe that I can pass on that happening, I would be remiss to suborn perjury."

"In that case, Albus, you are dismissed. I would have liked to cross examine you, but I happen to agree with Mr. Sheistre that at this point, your testimony would not only be worthless, but probably perjured."

Dumbledore was incensed. How dare they not just take his word for it. He did know that Black was not responsible for the beatings, that had been his idea to drive a bigger wedge between Black and Severus. The guard had told him that he could take care of it. It cast suspicion on Black, and would have been perfect had not Snape contested the charges.

"Madam Bones, Minister Fudge, and honored members of the Wizengamot. You have heard, from my client's own mouth under Veritaserum, the details refuting the Crown's case. The only person who would refute these facts refused to take Veritaserum, therefore anything he might have said is suspect. I ask of you to return with a 'not guilty' verdict for my client, a man who has been sorely used by both sides in this war, and could not even expect fair treatment under the 'care' of the DMLE. The defense for Severus Snape rests."

"Well spoken, Mr. Sheistre. I call this court into closed session to consider a verdict. All rise. Please wait outside the courtroom until the verdict is reached. Aurors, you may take charge of the defendant. Mr. Sheistre, I would ask you to accompany your client, seeing his past history with the Aurors in the DMLE" Sheistre could have kissed Cornelius. Instead he settled for a smile and nod toward his friend. Marvin followed Snape and the Aurors out of the room.

Dumbledore knew that Sheistre had out-maneuvered him at every point, he just did not know how. It turned out that Marvin had used Fudge's natural paranoia about Dumbledore when he spoke to the Minister about his client. He stressed that the Order of the Phoenix was a vigilante group, Dumbledore's private army out to put Dumbledore in power over the Ministry. Marvin didn't mind tweaking the truth just a bit to his friend, his first duty was to his client. With the way that the trial was going, he knew that Cornelius was going to be just as good as an extra defense attorney in the deliberations. Sure, he did not have a vote, but he was perfectly able to make his views known.

It was less than thirty minutes before an Auror opened the courtroom doors and announced that there had been a verdict. The witnesses and spectators filed in to find the Wizengamot members seated and Snape sitting in the chair without chains.

"Mr. Snape," said Fudge. "Please stand and face the court. In this matter, we find that Albus Dumbledore did have the authority to offer you immunity, but this court would like to thank you for your restraint by never committing acts which would have been necessary to invoke that immunity. That being said, this court finds you Not Guilty of all charges, and, in appreciation for your self-sacrificial service to the Light, awards you the Order of Merlin, third class, and the thanks of a grateful nation. You are further awarded 10,000 galleons in restitution for the disgraceful abuse you suffered at the hands of the guards at the DMLE and Madam Bones assures me that she will open an inquiry to get to the bottom of that situation. Now, if I may," Fudge made his way down to Snape. "I hereby award this Order of Merlin for your bravery in the face of certain death, and your service to Wizarding Britain." Fudge pinned the medal on Snape's robes and shook his hand. "This court is now adjourned."

As the spectators and witnesses left, Dumbledore took Mad-eye Moody aside. "Alastor, should that investigation of Bones' dig too deeply, it could throw all of our efforts into question. Please see that it doesn't happen."

Moody got a feral look on his face. "Don't worry, Albus. It will be nipped in the bud. You owe me one though."

"I owe you more than one. I will speak with you later."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_DMLE Holding area_

Moody slipped into the holding area during lunchtime under his invisibility cloak. He made his way to Antonin Dolohov's cell and, without any preamble, cast the Imperius curse on the Death Eater. He gave him his instructions, then handed him a garrote, a piece of piano wire with a small wooden handle on each end. He then made his way out of the holding area and out of the Ministry building.

Later that evening, following shift change, the guard responsible for the beatings of Snape, at Dumbledore's suggestion, made his way down the rows of cells, grumbling to himself. He was going to be suspended pending an investigation into the beatings. Well, he was not going to take it laying down, he would let the investigators know just who put him up to it. If he was going to go down, so was Dumbledore. Unless, of course, he could use the information to secure a job from Dumbledore in the event that he was fired.

When he got to Antonin Dolohov's cell, he saw Dolohov laying on the floor of the cell with a puddle of blood coming out from under his robe. "Aww, crap. They will probably blame me for this mutt's injuries. C'mon, Dolohov, get your arse up…. Dolohov?" He unlocked the cell, went inside, and nudged Antonin with his toe. Bending down, he attempted to turn him over. In a movement almost too quick to recognize, Dolohov whipped around, blood coming off his arm, took the garrote, and snapped it around the guard's neck, twisting it tight. Unable to get off a curse, the guard flopped around until his brain shut down from lack of oxygen. With a final pull on the garrote, Dolohov cut through the guard's neck, dropping him. He grabbed the guard's wand, bowed to the other whistling and cheering prisoners, and made his way to the door to escape. He did not get far. The Dementors that Barty Crouch had insisted upon grabbed Antonin as he was escaping out the door, one of them administering the Kiss on the Imperiused prisoner. They picked him up and deposited him back in his cell, and the one who did not feed went to Auror Command to get their attention, to let them know that there was an unusual occurrence in the cell block.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_A/N: I look at Moody as a prototype for the character, Vic, on the TV show, the Shield. Vic is a cop who does not let the law get in the way of his ambition, or what he considers justice. In the first show, he set up a superior who planned on investigating him, shooting him and blaming it on a druggie. If you have never seen the show, I recommend it, I believe some of the early seasons are out on DVD._

_I also made a real error in this one by having Lucuis Malfoy be the one to kill the guard; it was pointed out to me so I redid the last part to make it Antonin Dolohov. The only excuse I have is that Malfoy is such a punk that the first Dementor to suck out his soul must have upchucked… and Malfoy is the kind of guy you don't mind killing more than once…_


	8. Setting the Record Straight

_A/N: Thanks to Pagan ThunderGod and wwwendy for alerting me to a huge screw-up in Chapter 7. I ended up killing off Lucius Malfoy __**twice!**__ And in the same manner! I first executed him by Dementor's Kiss in a previous chapter, then had him Kissed while under the Imperius curse while trying to escape. The only thing I can say in my defense is that it is just so darn fun to kill off Lucius that I keep wanting to do it over and over again. Alas, since Lucius didn't have enough of a soul to satisfy one Dementor, let alone two, I had to give that 'honor' in chapter 7 to Dolohov…_

**Chapter 8**

**Setting the Record Straight**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

Sirius Black came bouncing into his old office, responding to a request to stop by from Frank Longbottom. He told the desk Auror his business, and was let through the divider into the office area. He entered to see Amelia Bones sitting with Frank.

"What's up, guys?"

"Sirius," began Amelia, "I need to ask you for your wand before we start."

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"We are investigating the beatings given to Severus Snape during his stay here. You have been implicated. Now please, your wand." Sirius handed it over, wondering how on earth he could be blamed for Snivillus' bruises.

"Thank you. Now, Mr. Black…"

"Please Amelia, we worked together for three years, Mr. Black is my father."

"Never the less, we still must follow form. Mr. Black, did you ever order or suggest to any guard that they should use physical force to convince Mr. Snape to sign an agreement to stay away from your ward, Draco Malfoy?"

"Never! I thought the court would sort out Snape, there was no reason for me to do anything but try to convince him to sign so that it would be easier on Draco. I don't like Snape, never have, but it is ludicrous to imply that I would have anything to do with having him beaten!"

"Ludicrous as in setting him up to be bitten or killed by a werewolf?"

"Merlin, we were just kids at the time! I never thought he would actually be stupid enough to follow me after I dared him."

"Isn't it true that without the intervention of James Potter, Mr. Snape could very well be either a werewolf or dead? And that your friend Remus Lupin could have been put down as a danger to society?"

Sirius hung his head. "Yes, I thought it would be a good prank to scare him, I just didn't think."

"Would you be willing to undergo questioning by Veritaserum to prove what you have said?"

"I suppose so, if it will get you guys off my back."

"Very well, Auror Longbottom, please get the Veritaserum." Frank went out to the safe, retrieved the potion, then returned. He and Amelia went through the procedure to assure it had not been tampered with, then he administered it.

"State your name."

"Sirius Orion Black."

"Mr. Black, did you have any hand in the beatings of Severus Snape in the DMLE holding area?"

"No."

"Did you ever suggest that Mr. Snape should be physically abused or beaten to make him agree to sign papers affecting the visitation of Draco Malfoy?"

"No, I did not."

"Do you know who might have suggested to the guard that it would help you if Severus Snape was beaten?"

"No."

"Did you have any plans to keep Severus Snape away from his godson?"

"Yes."

"What were they?"

"I planned to talk to him, hoping he would sign a visitation waiver. Failing that, I thought that he would be convicted by the court and that there would then be no need for a waiver. In the event that there was no trial, if Dumbledore had gotten his way, the Headmaster assured me that he would make sure that Snape wouldn't gain visitation."

"Thank you, Frank, administer the antidote." Frank gave the antidote, and Sirius' eyes began to refocus.

"Are we all done?"

"Just one more thing." Amelia handed Sirius a parchment.

"What is this?"

"It is a summons to family court. Severus Snape's solicitor asked us to serve it on you. You are to appear to show cause why Mr. Snape should not be allowed visitation."

"Show cause! Because he is a damned Death Eater, that's why!" Sirius threw the parchment down in disgust. "How you people ever let him go is beyond me."

"Maybe because he was innocent? Now you have to decide what you are going to do. He has not only been found Not Guilty under Veritaserum, but has also been awarded the Order of Merlin, and been given a lot of money over these beatings. If you go in there spouting that Death Eater charge, they will not only laugh you out of the courtroom, they will probably take custody away from you and grant it to him. I suggest that you change your attitude and try to work something out. Get rid of your damn schoolboy animus and grow up, for Merlin's sake!"

Frank stepped in. "Sirius, how would you feel if you were denied visitation with Harry? You know that Dumbledore was setting you up for something like that. Had you gone after Pettigrew, you would probably be in Azkaban right now and Harry would be with his mother's adopted Muggle sister. In fact, I'm not so sure that getting any kind of advice from Dumbledore is very smart. It looks like he has been playing all of us. I'm not really very impressed by the way his name keeps popping up everywhere I look in these investigations. Think about it and get back to me. In the meantime, it might just be time to eat a bit of humble pie and work out something with Severus."

"Crap, he is still going to think that I ordered the beatings."

"No he won't. I will speak with him and allow him to view this interview in my pensieve."

"Thanks Amelia."

"Hey, even if you are retired and managing your excessively large estate, you are still one of us. Just don't cross any lines, because we would still have to come down hard on you, like it or not."

"I understand." Sirius picked up the summons and left.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft_

_Office of the Headmaster_

Albus Dumbledore was not happy. Not only had he been effectively slapped down in his attempt to have Harry Potter placed in circumstances which would have properly prepared him to look at Dumbledore as a savior when he finally entered Hogwarts, but he had also lost any leverage he might have had over Severus Snape. Instead of having a well placed (and low paid) servant dependant on his goodwill to stay out of Azkaban, Snape went and broke his chains and was now looked at as a bloody _hero!_ And Albus was the one who let the Wizengamot know he was a hero. It was days like this that he really started to feel his age. Oh well, he had the next nine years or so to mold Severus back into the servant that he should be now.

He was interrupted in his reverie by one of the elves, named Tippy, bringing him a piece of parchment. He vaguely recognized the elf as one that would help Snape in the Potions lab cleaning when there were no unfortunate students serving detentions. Albus took the parchment from the elf, and before he could read it, the elf popped out. He unrolled the parchment, read it, and then threw it down and proceeded to throw a fit. When he had finished unleashing his anger, he picked up the parchment and reread it, just to make sure that he had not missed anything. He had not.

"_Dear Headmaster" _the parchment read, _"As per Section V, Clause 14, paragraph (x), I am hereby notifying you of my intention to leave the employ of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in three days at the beginning of Winter Holidays. I have cleaned out my office and personal quarters; I have also spoken with the Board of Governors regarding the unexpired portion of my contract. The have granted me compassionate leave so that I might deal with the custody matter of my godson. The leave began this morning. Replacing me will be Professor Horace Slughorn, who has agreed to come out of retirement for the balance of the year. He will be reporting to you prior to the end of the holidays._

_Should you need prepared potions for the infirmary, I am willing to give the school an institutional discount from my new shop, Perfect Potions, located at 93 Diagon Alley in London. Please note that I will not provide you with some of the more esoteric potions that I have brewed for you in the past. In other words, all potions I sell will be legal under present Ministry Regulations. Should you need legal potions, please have Madam Pomphrey contact me. Should you personally get the undeniable urge to speak with me, do not bother. I have warded my shop and home against your magical signature. In other words, don't call me, I certainly won't call you._

_Sincerely,_

_Severus Snape, Potions Master_

_Order of Merlin, third class_

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Office of Marvin Sheistre, Solicitor_

_Knockturn Alley_

While Dumbledore was blowing a gasket, Severus was in his Solicitor's office settling the bill for his defense in his recent trial. Since he had a second case coming up, Sheistre had given him a 'frequent client' discount. Sheistre was also in a jolly mood because he had been able to rub Dumbledore's face in the mud, if only for a short while. He knew that the look on Dumbledore's face when he called him a liar would be one of those he would keep in his pensieve for those days when he needed a quick lift of his spirits. Hell, it was so classic that he could probably use it as a Patronus memory. He looked at his client, and could really see the difference in the man. When he saw Snape in the holding cell that first day, the man looked like he was at least forty years old; now he appeared to be the twenty-four year old he actually was.

"So Severus, how's the new shop going?" Snape had gone over his plans and Marvin had helped him write his resignation letter so that it would have the greatest impact upon Dumbledore's psyche when he received it.

"Excellent, I was able to get a start-up loan from Gringotts that I should have paid back in a short time. I had to put up my home as collateral, but the loan officer seemed to think that the business would take off quickly. I got a contract with a herbology supplier for some of the ingredients, and I have cultivated contacts over the past few years for the rest. I start brewing tomorrow, and the shop will be open in a week. I still need to hire someone to mind the counter when I am busy brewing, but for now I will brew at night and run the counter during the day. I really owe you a lot, you have not only given me back my life, but given me a new life."

"Don't mention it. Now, on this visitation suit, I think that if we can just get Black to sit down and talk, you can save a lot of heartache and court costs. We can work out an agreement, then just present it to the Ministry. That way you will only be billed for the hours that I actually work."

Snape's face got a distinctively sour look. "I doubt it, Black doesn't listen to anyone."

"Something tells me that there is some history there, care to tell me about it? It could help, maybe there is something I could use for leverage."

So Severus told Marvin about the miserable time he had over the years at Hogwarts, the hooligans known as the Marauders, and the deep seated hatred that the two held for each other. Marvin already knew some of it, but hearing about how Sirius had set him up to be attacked by a werewolf made him pale in disgust realizing just what a vicious enemy Black could be. It was a good thing that Black was no longer an Auror, he really seemed to be the type to abuse his power.

"Well, one thing you can rest your mind over, he didn't set up the beatings in the holding cell. He passed testing by Veritaserum. It might be that the guard thought he was doing Black a favor, we'll never know, the guard was killed by one of the prisoners, a Death Eater named Dolohov. Dolohov tried to escape and the Dementors Kissed him.

"It couldn't have happened to a bigger pair of bastards." Snape had a satisfied gleam in his eyes. That was one more Death Eater he would never have to worry about. He did wish that he had been able to see a pensieve memory about it though. Something about the whole thing was just a bit too convenient. He did not really believe that Dolohov would do something quite that stupid on his own. Never mind, he was beginning to see manipulations around every corner, maybe it was the product of seven years as a Slytherin and almost that long as a spy working both sides of the street. It sounded like something out of Dumbledore's twisted mind. He shook it off. "If you can get Black to sit down, go for it. I would suggest getting his pet werewolf to talk to him, as much as I despise Lupin, he was the most level headed."

"I'll give that a try. I'll contact you when I hear something. If I can't hammer out an agreement, we'll just take his arse to court, you have value as a good guy right now. If I need to, I can put a bug in Cornelius Fudge's ear, he can probably influence the court a bit if push comes to shove." The two men stood, shook hands and Snape left.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Longbottom Manor_

It had been a hard week's work for Frank and Alice, so tonight Sarah and Sirius were planning to take the boys off their hands so they could have a little bit of 'alone time.' Due to the fact that taking three squirming kids through a Floo was not exactly the best form of travel, Sirius had gotten directions to Longbottom Manor so that he could pick the kids up in Sarah's car. This was somewhat complicated by the fact that there was not an actual drive up to the house; as magical people, there was no need for it. The road passed a quarter mile away from the house, it being built in the centre of a large tract of land. The Floo system and portkeys were the normal method of access and exit. This problem was solved by Sirius bringing his broom in the boot of the car and flying from the road to the house. He landed and knocked on the door.

"Oi Alice, are the kids ready?" Sirius could hear Harry and Neville in the background making excited yelps.

"Oh yes," Alice peered around Sirius. "Are Sarah and Draco with you?"

"They're out at the car. I picked up a couple extra child seats today, so they will all be strapped in."

"Where were you guys planning to go?" Alice stepped aside so that Sirius could enter. Just then, Harry spotted Sirius and squealed.

"Padfoot!" Harry rushed forward and grabbed Sirius' left leg, quickly joined by Neville grabbing his right. The sudden tackle attempt almost made him lose his balance.

"Whoa there!" Turning to Alice, he stated, "We're going to go into Muggle London and hit a pizza parlour that Sarah mentioned. It is supposed to be a 'kid friendly' kind of place. She mentioned something about a giant mouse."

"Sounds interesting, just make sure that it is a mouse and not a rat. Okay boys, do you have your brooms?" The toddlers broke away and rushed to the closet to grab their toy brooms. These were spelled with auto-balance charms and were limited to one metre height. They would go about fifteen miles an hour, so the trip to the road would pass quickly. They ran back to the entryway and looked expectantly at Sirius.

"Boys, you're not going anywhere until I get a kiss and hug," Alice scolded them with a smile. They dropped the brooms and wrapped their arms around her neck when she bent over. After a big hug and kiss, she straightened and asked Sirius, "What time should I expect them back?"

"Why don't you plan on about six tomorrow evening? We'll stuff them full of junk food and take them to the zoo tomorrow. Moony is coming with us tomorrow, so we can probably get them well worn out before we send them home."

"Sounds good, Frank and I can have some time to unwind, and I can drag him down to the shops tomorrow. What is it about guys that they hate to shop so much?"

"Don't ask me, I think that it is in the genes or something. And Alice, I know that I say this all of the time, but I really appreciate the way you and Frank stepped up in Harry's case. I would have hated to seen what would have happened if Dumbledore had gotten his way."

"Don't mention it. Besides, you are also doing a great job with Draco; I would hate to think how he would have turned out if the Malfoys had not been caught."

"See you tomorrow then. Okay boys, mount up!" Harry and Neville mounted their brooms and Sirius spelled them to follow him in a line. The trip to the car took just a few minutes, then Sirius and Sarah were strapping the boys into their car seats and putting the brooms in the boot. Sirius snapped the lid closed, then turned and put his arms around Sarah's waist. He drew her close.

"Do you have any idea how much I love and appreciate you?" he asked. He bent his head and kissed her gently.

"Oh, you might have mentioned it a time or two. But we had better get these ravenous beasts to the restaurant before they start plotting our downfall." She gave him another quick peck and they headed around to the front seats.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Charles Cheeze Pizza Parlour_

_London_

The three boys were captivated by the sights, sounds, and aromas at the 'family friendly' pizza parlour. After Sirius had ordered, they slipped down from their chairs and begged him to allow them to play some of the games. Sirius exchanged some sterling for tokens, and the males of the party went to find some age appropriate games. By the time the pies arrived, they were on the way back to the table with several stuffed toys and other prizes.

"Looks like a nice haul," Sarah said with a grin.

"You would be amazed how good these kids are at that crane game. One would take the controls and the others just stood quietly on each side. There were several times that I wouldn't have thought that they would get the prize, but each time they played, they got something. Nobody else had that kind of luck; they had to restock the machine."

Sarah looked at the boys with a stern look. "You boys didn't do anything to the machine, did you?"

With looks of total innocence, they, as one, shook their heads. "No, ma'am" Draco said, "We just wished that we would win."

"Well, I guess that is no different than what anyone else does," Sirius said with a grin. "Besides, should we tell the management that these kids _wished_ the prizes out of the machine?"

"Of course not, but we are going to have a little talk when we get home about right and wrong. And not using sneaky means to get what they want. But for now, let's dig in."

They were mostly finished with their pies when the stage show began. One of the female employees introduced the players and the curtain opened to show a large man in a grey mouse costume, a bear playing the banjo, and a dog on the drums. The bear and the dog were animatrons, robots programmed for certain motions. The mouse, on the other hand, would announce birthdays and such. Harry glanced up at the stage and paled. He quickly got the other two boy's attention, and their heads went together while they dropped their voices. Sarah and Sirius did not notice this, they were looking at the stage and enjoying the show. Before they could spot what the boys were doing, the trio had slipped out of their chairs and ran full tilt at the stage.

Harry ran straight up to the costumed employee with Neville and Draco a step behind him. He drew back his foot and delivered a solid (for a three year old) kick to the man's shin.

"_**Bad 'ermtail! Bad, bad, bad!"**_ With each 'bad', he struck out at the confused man. The other boys got a look of intense concentration, and suddenly the man's feet flew out from under him, and he found himself hanging upside down in mid-air. Sirius and Sarah jumped out of their seats and rushed the stage to grab the three boys. With their concentration broken, the man fell in a heap on the stage. There was a series of _pops_ and suddenly Ministry Obliviators were there, stunning and Obliviating everyone in sight. One of them came up to Sirius.

"We got a report of a huge burst of accidental underage magic coming from here. Do you know anything about it, Black?"

Sirius quickly explained what happened, the boys thinking that the mouse-costumed employee was Peter Pettigrew, and the Obliviator slapped his leg, roaring in laughter. Through his laughs, he suggested that Sirius and the Longbottoms consider putting some minor blocking spells on the boys to prevent a recurrence, then told Sirius that he would be receiving a bill for the emergency call. "And Pettigrew better hope that he never meets these kids, he won't know what hit him. That poor muggle sure didn't."

Sirius grabbed Sarah and the boys and got the heck out of there before anything else could happen.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_A/N: Yes, I know that there were not any Chuck E. Cheese pizza parlours in London back then, but the scene just popped into my head…. My muse forced me into it!_


	9. Dividing Draco

**Chapter 9**

**Dividing Draco**

_Office of Marvin Sheistre_

_Knockturn Alley_

Severus Snape was waiting in his solicitor's office, having been summoned to approve the visitation agreement worked out with Sirius Black. This was one of those cases where no one would be happy, but it was also not too restrictive for either party. Sirius had also hired a solicitor, one who was able to ignore his client's antipathy toward Snape and hammer out something that, if not perfect, at least looked out for the best interests of young Draco. Sheistre's secretary motioned Snape into her employer's office.

Marvin stood up to greet Severus, shaking his hand. The two made small talk for a few minutes, Snape telling him of the progress of his new Diagon Alley store, before getting down to business.

"All right, Severus, here is the agreement, look it over and tell me what you think." He placed a sheaf of parchment in front of Severus.

"So much parchment for one little boy," Severus mused. He read through it quickly, stiffening slightly when he read a clause on the third page. "The parties are not to say anything negative about each other in the child's hearing? Or say anything negative about the other's house at Hogwarts? Don't you think that might be going a bit far? And just how do they expect to enforce that?"

"Severus, it makes a lot of sense; a huge part of your problems with Black stem from the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry. You can promote your own house, but you can't run down the others. Just imagine if Draco is someday sorted into Slytherin. Would you really want Draco to have to write home with that news after hearing for eight years how bad Slytherin House is, and how all snakes are untrustworthy? And would you really want Draco to face disappointing you should he be sorted into Gryffindor? And as far as enforcement goes, once you and Black sign this, it is a magical contract, you will be _unable_ to break the clauses of the document. You can hate each other as much as you want, just not in the presence of Draco. clauses of the document. You can hate each other as much as you want, just not in the presence of Draco. You don't have to be buddies or friends, you just have to be civil in Draco's presence."

Severus carefully reread the contract, finding no loopholes he could exploit, but conversely, none that Black could exploit. With a sigh, he nodded. "How often will I be able to see my godson?"

"The actual time will be decided by the court referee, however you can probably count on every third weekend. If weekends are not feasible, they would probably allow certain weekdays, but once he starts school, you would either have to leave him at home during the nights or pick him up and deliver him to school."

"I don't see weekends being a problem. Hold it, what is this clause here," Severus asked, pointing at a paragraph.

"I tried to get it removed, but Black's solicitor insisted. I managed to put an opposing clause in to neutralize it." Sheistre pointed at the next paragraph.

"So I cannot say anything bad about muggles or muggleborn and he cannot run down purebloods?"

"That is about it. You can promote your own beliefs, but not at the expense of the others."

"I suppose that will have to do," Snape said sourly. "The important thing is that I will have visitation."

"I have seen divorces that had fewer restrictions, but it is the best deal I could get. Black stated that he was perfectly willing to take Draco and go live somewhere that you would have no influence at all over him. I'm sure that he is bluffing because of his own godson, but the idea was thrown out there. If the agreement is suitable, we can have the signing scheduled for Monday at Family Court."

"Very well. Owl me with the time." Severus stalked out of the office.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Headmaster's Office_

Another person watching the visitation agreement between Severus Snape and Sirius Black with much interest was Albus Dumbledore. He had been thwarted in his scheme to have Sirius locked away and Harry placed in the custody of his aunt, then had lost his spying servant and cheaply paid Potions Master. He had attempted to give advice to both parties, only to find himself rebuffed in no uncertain terms. He needed Black and Snape to remain at each other's throats, a genial settlement just would not do. If he were to get Harry and Severus back under his control, he would need for both Snape and Black to rely on him for advice. It was a good thing that he had influence with the Family Court mediator. He would be able to scuttle any agreement that did not have enough seeds of animosity built into it. It was with this in mind that he threw a pinch of Floo powder into the fireplace and called the Mediator.

"Gerald, how are you this fine morning?"

"Albus, old friend, this is a pleasant surprise! Come on through and have a nice warm scone and try some of this superb tea that I just had brought in from India.

"That sounds wonderful, I'm on my way." A moment later, Gerald Mosser's fireplace flared up and Albus stepped out into the office. The two men embraced and Gerald summoned a house elf to bring them the refreshments. Albus took a sip and widened his eyes in appreciation. "Oh my, this _is_ superb, you will have to tell me who is your supplier."

"I'll do better than that, I made a small mistake on my order and accidentally purchased over twice what I wanted. Let me give you a half kilo, that way it won't go stale. Jinky!" Mosser's elf popped in and looked at his master expectantly. "Jinky, wrap up a half kilo of that new tea up for the Headmaster." The elf nodded and popped out, reappearing a moment later with the requested tea, then popped back out. "Marvelous elf, that one. Even tempered, and only speaks when I need him to. Now, what can I help you with?"

"Can you tell me what is happening with the visitation agreement for young Draco Malfoy?"

"It's Black now; Sirius Black adopted him a week ago. He annulled the marriage of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy post mortem, then blood adopted Draco and renamed him Drake. When he did the annulment, he also signed over the Malfoy manor house to some of Lucius' French relatives along with the title of Lord Malfoy. He made sure it was one that did not hold to the Malfoy 'blood purity' prejudices. Anyway, the case comes up for review next week, the parties have notified us that they have reached an agreement through their solicitors. From what I understand through the whispers around here, it is quite the legal document; one that will set the pattern for future custody and visitation agreements. I am looking forward to seeing it."

"Hmm…," Albus murmured thoughtfully. "It seems that two Dark characters have hammered out how they are going to divide that poor child. It is a shame, but what can you do?"

"Dark?" Gerald gasped. "Are you sure, Albus?"

"How can anyone be sure? Yes, I know that Severus was acquitted, but remember, he is a potions master. It would not be unreasonable to think that he could have made some sort of antidote to the Veritaserum. He spent more time with Lord Voldemort's forces than he ever did ours. In fact, I believe that he is the one who gave Voldemort the information that made him target the Potters. And don't even get me started on Black. As far as I know, he was the Secret Keeper for the Potters. I think he probably killed off poor Peter Pettigrew to keep him silent."

"But the DMLE said he was cleared in that." Gerald was clearly confused.

"Ah, that is the rub. You know that I spent a few years in the muggle world, don't you?" At Gerald's nod, Dumbledore continued. "The muggle police always protect each other no matter how corrupt. They will lie, cheat and steal. Do you really expect that our Aurors are any different? It is the same job, the same 'us against the world' attitude, just a different job name. I am the Grand Warlock of the Wizengamot, and I never heard him testify under Veritaserum in court." This was not actually a lie, Sirius had testified during a panel hearing that Dumbledore did not attend, although he had minutes of the hearing.

"This is terrible, but what can be done about it?"

Albus pretended to think about it. "The two parties do not get along. If the agreement should be too conciliatory, they could possibly join together to corrupt the boy. It would be better to keep them at each other's throats, that way I could possibly influence one or both of them back toward the light. I believe that everyone deserves a second chance, no matter how despicable. Possibly make sure that all of Severus' visitations would have to be supervised by someone who is solidly on the side of the Light."

"Usually we are required to sign off on mutual agreements, but that does sound like a good idea." Gerald was taking notes. "It is really too bad that Black adopted the boy, otherwise we could force home visitations by our department."

"With everything in such a state of flux, and the fact that the boy's natural parents were Death Eaters, you might be able to _bend_ some of the guidelines and demand that anyway. I would appreciate any help you could give to keep that little boy in a healthy environment. I, of course, would volunteer any time I have free to help supervise. I would also shield you from any possible backlash."

"Albus, caring for children is my job, but it is also my passion. You know the circumstances in which I grew up, yours were not too different. I know you don't like to speak of it, but I saw the pain you went through when you had to go to school with everyone knowing your father had killed that muggle and had died in Azkaban for it. The young one are the ones who suffer because of the bad decisions of the adults who should be protecting them." The two wizards rose and Gerald crossed over to Dumbledore and gave him a hug and kiss. "How you can still care so much with all that you have been through. I really believe that is what made me fall in love with you all those years ago."

Dumbledore looked at his old friend fondly. "I know Gerald, but as fond as I am of you, Gellert was my only love, and the pain he put me through made sure that I could never have a loving relationship with anyone else. Imagine someone you love more than life itself, and that person goes completely Dark and tries to take you down with him. And the worst part was when I had to kill him, they made me some sort of hero. Everyone says I defeated Gellert that day, but it was really my heart that was defeated." Albus gave his friend a return hug, then picked up his bundle of tea and made his way over to the fireplace. Taking a handful of Floo powder, he turned and said, "Let me know what happens," then through the powder in the fireplace, called out his destination, stepped in and disappeared.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Albus stepped out of his fireplace and into his office. He sent his tea off with a house elf to be put in his private stores, then sat down at his desk and began taking notes. As he did this, he spoke to his phoenix, Fawkes, using the bird as a sounding board as he told him of his meeting and the outline of his plan to bring Severus back under his control using the visitations with Draco as a means to keep the Potions Master from getting too comfortable with Sirius Black, and sketching out a rough outline of a plan to put Severus out of business so he would have to come crawling back to Hogwarts in order to maintain an income. As caught up in his scheming as he was, Albus never noticed the look of disgust the phoenix was giving him. He also never noticed the alarmed look on the face of a past Headmaster, Phineas Nigellus Black, the Great-great-grandfather of one Sirius Black, and adopted ancestor of Draco Black (formerly Malfoy). He pretended to be asleep in his frame, but listened to every word Albus uttered to Fawkes.

Albus was startled out of his reverie when Fawkes, clearly upset by his human's scheming, flew off his perch and flashed out of the room. Phineas took this opportunity to secrete himself behind some drapes painted into his portrait. Albus looked at his watch, then rose from his desk and left his office for the Great Hall to have lunch. As soon as he left, Phineas left his portrait frame and hurried to the one in the Black ancestral home at 12 Grimmauld Place. As soon as he entered his new frame, he began shouting for Sirius. The only response he got was from an elf he did not recognize.

"Shhh! Youse will wake up the little Master and Dobby just got him down for his nap!" Dobby scowled at Phineas.

"Elf, where is your Master, Sirius?"

"Master Sirius be taking care of some business at his solicitor's office. Why is you wanting to know?"

"Dobby, this is very important. There is a dastardly plot of which I have just learned that will bring harm to Sirius and Drake. Is there any way you can get to Sirius and bring him and his solicitor here?"

Dobby was alarmed by this. "Dobby will call Master Sirius at the solicitor's office on the floo. Dobby heard Master Sirius give his address when he left." The elf scurried away, leaving Phineas to stew in his frame. He returned a few minutes later with Sirius, his solicitor, and Sarah in tow. Ten minutes after that, Phineas finished. Not a word had been spoken during the telling of the plot. When Phineas finished, the solicitor, George Steinman spoke.

"This is indeed serious, and no lame jokes," he said as he saw that Sirius was about to do just that. "If this goes the way Dumbledore wants, it could ruin everything we have worked on for Drake's benefit. I believe it is time to call in the big guns." Steinman pulled out a two way mirror and called his secretary. "Marsha, get Marvin Sheistre on the floo and have him come to Sirius Black's house. If he can bring Severus Snape, so much the better. Then call Amelia Bones and have her come her, tell her it is urgent." He closed the mirror and turned toward Sirius and Sarah. "Okay, here is what we are going to do….."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

It had been too easy. Amelia had gone to Gerald Mosser's office, supposedly to get information on the visitation agreement for an 'ongoing investigation of Sirius Black and Severus Snape'. Mosser had swallowed it hook, line, and sinker, eager to assist the DMLE in putting away two wizards that Albus Dumbledore had planted suspicions about in Mosser's mind. He also swallowed a dose of Veritaserum that Amelia had slipped into his tea. Once his eyes glazed over, Amelia began to question Gerald and he began to spill his guts. He happily admitted that he planned, at Dumbledore's request, to circumvent the rules of his office and make any agreement brought in on Drake's behalf unworkable and subject to Dumbledore's supervision. He also told her all about his unrequited love for Dumbledore and his disappointment that Gellard Grindlewald had captured Albus' heart before he, Gerald, even had a chance. This raised Amelia's eyebrows. Homosexuality was a career killer, especially in any job that dealt with children. Never mind that the children were far more likely to be hurt by hetrosexuals, the wizarding public just had a really bad attitude toward gays. They ranked somewhere below werewolves on the respect scale in wizarding society. This could very well spell the end of Albus Dumbledore as a force in society should it be revealed. And the fact that Gellert Grindlewald was his long lost lover would be even worse. The public might start seeing his heroic defeat of Grindlewald as nothing more than a lover's quarrel that got out of hand.

When Mosser came out of his drug induced cooperativeness, Amelia fixed him with a steely glare. "The first thing you will do is fill out this form recusing yourself from this case due to conflict of interest. The second thing you will do is write out your resignation for 'health reasons'. One of my Aurors will be here while you clear out your desk. He will then escort you home and stay with you until another mediator enacts the visitation agreement. You will never hold another Ministry position, but you are up in years, it might just be a good time to retire. You will also testify against Dumbledore regarding his interference in this matter should I require it. In return, nothing will be made public about your rather odd proclivities. Is this understood?"

Defeated, Mosser filled out the form and wrote his resignation, effective immediately. Amelia called up to her office and a few minutes later Mad-Eye Moody joined her in Gerald's office. She gave him a quick rundown on the case and instructed him to escort Mosser home and remain with him, making sure he did not have any contact with anyone until the case was finished later that day. Moody acknowledged her order and patiently waited for Mosser to finish packing. Moody then created a portkey to Mosser's home and settled in to guard him.

At five pm, well after the visitation agreement had been enacted and sealed, Mosser suddenly found himself in a full body bind while he was forced to watch Moody screw a large hook into a beam on the ceiling and conjure a noosed rope to attach to the hook.

"Just so you know, I have nothing against you or Dumbledore for being poofters, I have taken that kind of comfort myself, back in my younger days. But you have to realize, Bones has you on a leash, and she plans to use you to bring down Dumbledore, and that I can't allow. And in a trial, she can force your testimony, you are weak and you would give it. In order to prevent you from that shame, you decided to commit suicide. Terrible thing, but I will make sure that Dumbledore knows that you did this to protect him. I'm sure he will be grateful, once he gets over the fact that you spoiled his plan."

Moody then levitated Mosser to the noose and slipped his head through. He tightened the noose and, with a wave of his wand, released the body bind on Mosser and cancelled the levitation spell. Gerald's last thought was that he would have willingly walked over and placed the noose around his own neck to protect the wizard he had loved for the past 130 years, Albus Dumbledore. He only wished he could have told Moody that.

When the body had stopped twitching, Moody got a kitchen chair and lay it on its side to appear that Mosser had kicked the chair out from under himself, committing suicide. He cleaned up any trace of his presence from the house, then donned his invisibility cloak and left the scene. The body would be found the next day when Dumbledore, wanting information on the visitation agreement, came by and found his friend dead.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The visitation agreement was signed by both parties and enacted by the new mediator. Once it was in place, the parties found out that they absolutely were unable to utter a single word against the other, nor could their body language transmit their true feelings toward each other. This was not quite as hard as might be thought. It seemed that both men had earned a modicum of respect from the other when they worked together to spoil Dumbledore's little scheme. Drake Black left the hearing with his godfather to spend a weekend in the forest collecting potions ingredients while Sirius Black went home to cry on the understanding shoulder of his fiancée, Sarah Nalett. He would ask her something very important that weekend, but that is another chapter……


	10. Moody's Little Problem

**Chapter 10**

**Moody's Little Problem**

A/N: For some strange reason, upload has gone screwy. I am submitting these pages as Word Documents, all of the italics are where they should be, but when they upload, it is putting large portions in italics. I have tried to fix it, but it is not accepting the fixes. I may have to start writing all of these in HTML, which is a real pain. Please bear with me on it.

Hamilton

_Ministry of Magic_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

Amelia Bones was a troubled woman; one of her most trusted employees had, in her mind, gone rogue. Alistair Moody, a living legend among his co-workers, was suspected, at least by her, of committing at least one murder, that of Gerald Mosser. It was just too convenient that the man had supposedly committed suicide within a short time of Moody guarding him. And speaking of '_convenient'_ there was the matter of the Death Eater Dolohov killing the guard suspected of beating Severus Snape, then effectively committing suicide by walking into the waiting arms of the Dementors that Dolohov had to know were just outside the door. A scan run on Dolohov's soulless body showed signs of the Imperius Curse. Someone obviously did not want the guard speaking or Mosser and Dumbledore's secret relationship coming to light. She could place Moody at the scene of Mosser's death but he was off duty the day Dolohov had gone on his rampage. Wanting a sounding board for her thoughts, she called in Frank Longbottom.

"What's up, Boss?" Frank asked.

Amelia laid out her train of thought regarding Moody and his possible complicity in the two deaths. She would not be able to bring in the unauthorized dosing of Mosser with Veritaserum into evidence, it was a violation of DMLE rules concerning the proper procedure of questioning a suspect. The fact that she tried to allow him to resign and live in obscurity with her little bit of blackmail also would not be received well.

"Sounds like a right mess. Even if you could prove the charges, you would probably end up getting sacked as well. The question is: what do you want to do about it?"

Amelia took on a feral look. "I want to find out if Moody was here the day that Dolohov killed that idiot jailer. I also want to put together an airtight case using any method that is needed. If he was in on this, somebody is pulling his strings. I plan on using whatever leverage I can get to make sure that those strings are cut and that he owes me. I also want you to have any information that I dig up in the event he decides that I am expendable. So the first thing is to check the incoming logs here at the Ministry and find out if he slipped in on his day off. Even if he did not announce himself, the auto-log will show his presence. After that, go to Mosser's flat and check for magical signatures. Take Williams with you; he has been doing an internship at Scotland Yard learning some muggle techniques. He was in here earlier talking my ear off about some procedure called_fingerprinting._ I personally do not believe that Mosser could have screwed that large hook into the ceiling to hang himself. If he used magic, the hook will have his magical signature on it, if he did it by hand, it might have a fingerprint on it. Williams has already fingerprinted Mosser's body, I am sure that we can somehow find things with Moody's prints to compare."

"What if he calls your bluff? Are you willing to be sacked?"

"One worry at a time. Get me the information, we will decide where to go from there. I plan to get Moody in here tomorrow and, one way or another, find out what his wand has been up to. The sanction for Unforgivables was lifted over a year ago, if I find one on his wand, his butt is mine for the taking. Now, get moving."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Hole in the Wall Pub_

_Essex_

Alistair Moody had just settled in for a drink in a private room at his favorite pub when he felt a telltale itch on his right ear. No one at the pub knew him, each time he came here he cast a different glamour on himself so that he could not be tracked by his habits. It was just an extension of Constant Vigilance, as was the itch in his ear. That was caused by the activation of one or more listening charms he had cast in different places which would activate when his name was spoken. This particular charm was in the office of his boss, Amelia Bones. He quickly pulled out his wand, cast a privacy bubble around himself, then made another wand motion which brought the conversation in Bones' office to an audible level. As he was listening, he nodded to himself, remembering a quote he had heard about a former American President, one who had been forced to resign; _"Just because you are paranoid does not mean that you don't have enemies!"_

He listened with a bit of amazement at how Bones had put together a supposition that was way too close to the truth. He knew that he had problems, now how could he fix it? The wand would be no problem, he had cast the Imperius with one of his spare wands, he had three of them, he would just get rid of that one. The _fingerprint_ thing could be a bit trickier. He had screwed the hook in by hand to avoid the magical signature. His magical signature would be in Mosser's flat, but it could be explained away by saying he had levitated a tea set for the old poofter. Merlin knows that the old guy had been fixated on his damned tea. At least no one had thought to save the magical signature from Dolohov's Impriused body, and it was too late now. After listening to the rest of the conversation, he decided that it was time for Albus to repay one of his debts. But first, he needed to get rid of any evidence at Mosser's flat.

Moody apparated directly to his own flat and went to a hidden cupboard. Rummaging inside, he pulled out two items he thought that he would never have a chance to use, a wand that had been confiscated and conveniently_'lost',_ and a phial with the initials "LM" on it. He sat down, took off his wooden leg and magical eye, then grimaced and swallowed the contents of the phial. A few painful seconds later, Lucius Malfoy had returned from the dead. He stood, picked up Lucius' wand, then looked in the mirror, giving a sneer that was identical to that of the original. He was hoping that he would not be seen, but if he was, the shock of seeing someone who had their soul sucked out should be sufficient to get the drop on any intruder. He would put the wand back in the evidence room later.

Apparating directly into the dead man's flat, Moody quickly made sure he was alone, then grabbed a rag and wiped off the hook. He then, using Lucius' wand, screwed the hook in a bit tighter. That would take care of any magical signature. He cast three more harmless spells to confuse the investigation farther, seeing as Lucius was dead, no one would think to look in that direction. He suddenly froze, hearing a key slip into the lock. Deciding not to tempt fate, he apparated out of Mosser's flat, making five jumps to reach his.

Frank Longbottom and Jonas Williams had apparated to an alley beside the building that held Gerald Mosser's flat. Making sure no muggle paid attention to them, they cast _Notice-Me-Not_ charms on each other, and made their way into the entrance and up the stairs. Frank slipped the key into the lock; as he turned it, he heard the tell-tale POP of apparition. He and Jonas drew their wands and burst inside, Frank going left and Jonas to the right, rolling to make a smaller target. A quick search gave no clue as to the identity of the intruder. Frank conjured a piece of parchment and quill, then began recording the magical signatures in the room while Jonas began dusting the flat for prints. Since they had no database of wizard's fingerprints, they could only use the results by comparing them to existing suspects after ruling out the decedent's prints. They spent a couple of hours processing the scene, then apparated directly back to the office.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Office of the Headmaster_

Albus Dumbledore was also having a lousy day, one to match Director Bones'. He had awakened that day knowing that not only were his carefully laid plans going down the toilet, but that one of his closest friends had apparently committed suicide after quitting his job and leaving Albus in the lurch. He was not really ready for what he faced when he opened the door of his office to Alistair Moody.

"Come in Alistair, what can I do for you?"

"Dumbledore, we need to speak." The use of Albus' surname spoke volumes to him, Moody was stressed, even more than usual, and not here for anything small.

"Certainly, now what is on your mind?"

Moody laid the whole story out, the murders and the investigation. Dumbledore was shocked that Moody had killed Gerald, however the circumstances behind it would justify the killing since it would protect him and his job. At one point he thought of killing Moody to protect the secret and wondered where he could dispose of the body, but he figured that Moody would probably come back as a ghost and blow the whistle on him. Fortunately, Moody himself came up with a better plan.

"I want to place my memories of the events in your pensieve. You go through them, then Obliviate me and place some new memories in that will explain away any timeline problems. If the memories are not there, they can't use them against either of us."

"Hmm, that just might work. I assume that at some point you will want the memories back?"

"Better believe it. If I'm going to be sent to Hell someday for my misdeeds, I at least want to remember why. Now, can we get to it?"

"Certainly." Albus opened a cabinet and withdrew his pensieve. As Moody withdrew the memories, he deposited them in the instrument. Once they were done, Albus stirred them, then placed a hand in and was drawn into Moody's memories. Roughly a half hour later, he withdrew, shaken. The mind of Alistair Moody was not a pleasant place. He thought long and hard about what he wanted to implant, then raised his wand and spoke the incantation, "_**Obliviate!"**_

Moody's eyes went out of focus and Albus began feeding in the altered memories. They would seem distant to him, but would hold up under Legilimency or Veritaserum. He had no doubt that Amelia would use one or both on Moody. He just wished that he was able to be there to see what would happen when they tried to get the drop on him. There was no way that Moody would willingly take Veritaserum, his paranoia would not allow it. That meant that they would have to stun him to administer the drug, he mentally tipped his hat to whoever could successfully do that. Finishing, he placed the bulk of a conversation into Moody's mind, then withdrew.

"Alistair, are you alright? You looked a bit distant there." Moody shook his head.

"Sorry about that, Albus. I just lost my train of thought. What were you saying?"

Albus smiled his patented 'Grandpa Alby' smile. I said that I believe you are correct. With Voldemort's defeat and the effectiveness of the Aurors, there is no real reason for the Order to continue. Little Harry is fine where he is and it seems that the Death Eaters are being brought to justice. You may tell Madam Bones that I will be sending out owls to all of the members tonight disbanding the Order of the Phoenix. We will, however, remain vigilant and ready should the need ever arise."

"Thanks Albus, I'm sure she will be glad to hear that. If there is nothing else, I suppose I will head back home. Thanks for seeing me today."

"Anytime, old friend."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement_

"So, is it alright for me to drop off Drake tonight? I want to take Sarah on the date of her life to pop the question to her."

"It's fine with me. Where do you plan to take her?"

"I got an International Portkey to Paris. Dinner in the Wizarding section of _La Tour d'Argent,_then up to the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower for the big moment."

"Did the ring come from the family vault?"

"Naw, couldn't find any nice ones in there that were curse-free, so I had one made just for her. Some of the stuff in that vault scares me, and I was raised around it! ….Oh, hey Mad-Eye, thought you were off today?"

"Boss called for me, and I need to pass on a message. Anything new?" Mad-Eye gave a scan with his magical eye, the only wand showing was the young girl intern from Hogwarts who was using a charm to fold parchments for a mass mailing. He glanced at Amelia's door, looked through it to see her shuffling papers. All normal here.

"Just the normal 200 or so Pettigrew sightings," Frank said wryly. "I swear, every time someone sees a rat in this city, they call us."

Moody went up to Amelia's door and knocked, all the while watching her for any unfriendly movement. As such, he never noticed the silent**Stupify** that came from the intern's wand and hit him squarely in the neck. He dropped like an old pile of rags. The 'intern' went up to Moody, removed three wands, then opened the office door.

"Thank you for your help, dear. Why don't you go into the lounge and wait for the polyjuice to wear off, it should just be about ten minutes or so." The bystanders were treated to the sight of their boss nodding in deference to a seventeen year-old intern and scooting down the hall to do her bidding.

"Amelia, you do know that I plan on using this for a Patronus memory, don't you?" Sirius chortled.

"Hush Black, you can be Obliviated, you know. The worst part of this whole thing is that if he is not guilty, I can never toss that Constant Vigilance saying up to his face while reminding him that he fell for the oldest trick in the book."

"I wouldn't know about that," Frank said. "He would probably get a kick out of it. It's not as if he does everything 'by the book'. With Mad-Eye, the ends justify the means. So, shall we take him in and start the questioning?" At Amelia's nod, Frank bound Moody with conjured ropes and levitated him into Amelia's office. "Sirius, duty call, when do you want to drop off Drake?"

"We'll be there at five pm. Good luck on whatever you guys are up to." With that, Sirius nodded at Amelia, then left the office.

Knowing that Moody had built up a tolerance to Veritaserum, Amelia gave him almost triple the amount, then Enervated him. He glared at her for a moment, then the Veritaserum kicked in and his eye took on an unfocused look. She started the questioning.

"What is your name?"

"Alistair Fauntleroy Moody." Frank sniggered. "Yep, the potion is working. No way would he ever admit to that otherwise."

"Shush, Frank. Moody, what do you know about the death of Gerald Mosser?"

"I heard he committed suicide. When I left him, he seemed depressed, but he was alright otherwise." At this, Amelia looked surprised, but continued.

"Did you cast an Imperius on Antonin Dolohov?"

"No."

"Why were you in the Ministry building that day?"

"I left my retirement papers in my locker, I picked them up to finish filling them out at home." This was another surprise for Amelia. She had no idea that Moody planned to go back into retirement.

"What was the message that you planned to give me today?"

"Actually, two messages. The first is that Dumbledore is disbanding the Order of the Phoenix, but he wants you to know that should the need arise, he will be there to help, and the second message is that I am retiring in order to go to work at Hogwarts as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

"Merlin help those poor firsties," muttered Frank.

Amelia took Frank aside. "Well, I have absolutely nothing. Should I just Obliviate him and let him give the messages like nothing ever happened?"

"No, put your cards on the table, apologize to him for having to do it this way, and wish him luck in his new job. He won't complain, and it will give him a boost knowing that you have so much respect for his capabilities that you would take such drastic measures. Any one else, I would Obliviate, but not him."

"I'll go along with you on that, but I can't help but feel that somehow, I've been played, and big time."

"Maybe, maybe not. If you have, then he is way out of our league. All of his wands check out, nothing that we can use there. Someone is interested in Mosser's death, the foreign magical signatures in his flat prove that, but we would have to come up with a suspect to compare it to. It doesn't match Mad-Eye."

Amelia sighed. "Alright." She pointed her wand at Moody and Enervated him. He glared.

"Amelia, is there some good reason that I am tied up in your office feeling like someone has been taking a walkabout through my mind?"

"Actually Alistair, there is. I had evidence in two crimes that pointed to you as the perpetrator. I knew that conventional methods would not be useful, I could not see you submitting to Veritaserum whether or not you were guilty. I felt that a bit more… unique approach would be called for."

Moody looked at her admiringly. "Nice work. Let me guess, you and that little intern bint Polyjuiced each other and you tagged me while she shuffled papers in your office. Did you get what you wanted?"

"What I got cleared you." She waved her wand and banished the ropes. "I apologize for the drastic measures, but I have too much respect for your abilities to think that you would go as a sheep to slaughter."

"No need to apologize, I would have done the same thing. If you keep your wits about you like that, you might just survive the next Dark Lord that comes down the pike."

Amelia held out her hand. "Congratulations on your retirement and your new job at Hogwarts. It has been very interesting serving with you these past few years. Give Dumbledore my best and thank him for his efforts. It's a shame that some of his Order members cannot be recognized for their efforts, but have him pass the message that the DMLE does appreciate their efforts."

"I'll do that." Moody gave a half bow. "Madam, Frank." He turned and left the office, all the time watching with his magical eye in the event that the surprises were not finished that day.

"Dumbledore! Damn, he keeps popping up. For a Hero of the Light, he is sneakier than Salazar Slytherin himself. He and Moody deserve each other. Well, at least I have the pensieve memory of Mosser's outing him as a poofter. I suppose if I ever need it, I could take him down. It would really play well in the press, Headmaster of Hogwarts being light in the loafers."

"Sounds worthy of Moody himself. Is it alright with you if I take the rest of the day? I need to let Alice know that Drake will be spending the night."

"Go ahead, you have enough time built up that you can take a personal day or so. Good luck with the 'Triple Terrors', just don't let them terrorize any more six foot muggles in mouse suits."

"You know that they are never going to hear the last of that, don't you? I dread the day that Sirius decides to take them to Disneyland."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

At a castle in northern Scotland, Albus Dumbledore had finally decided on a course of action. He took the Pensieve memories that Moody had left, gathered them into a number of phials, then went into his private bathroom. Pouring the silvery memories into the toilet, he took hold of the flush chain and gave it a solid yank, watching the memories swirl around and disappear down the drain. Moody would be better off, he reasoned. Those inconvenient memories would also never come back to haunt the great Albus Dumbledore.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Later that evening, at a manor house, a grey sewer rat sat unnoticed behind a clump of weeds watching the Longbottoms greet Sirius and Sarah as they dropped off Sirius' adopted son. After the couple left, he rat made its way into the woods, transformed into a plump, prematurely balding man who apparated away with a small POP.


	11. Caught Up in the Spirit

Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Caught Up in the Spirit**

_A/N: I can't believe how long it has been since I updated this story! I ended up having to re-read my own story just to figure out where I was in it. I apologise to you all; I have been having relapses of my medical problems and have not done much in the past few months._

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_St. Anne's Lutheran Church_

_Gresham Street_

_London_

"Owww! How on earth do these muggles manage to tie these blasted bowties?" Sirius and Frank were both having quite a bit of trouble managing this particular piece of muggle neckwear. Remus Lupin, having spent much more time in the muggle world, had his tied to perfection. He snickered, then put his friends out of their misery by stepping up and tying their bowties into the acceptable shapes.

"Just be glad that they are not using regular neckties. Those are too much like bringing your own rope to your hanging."

It was a mere six months after the memorable night that Sirius proposed to Sarah atop the Eiffel Tower, laying his soul bare for the pretty witch who so neatly captured his heart. Sirius had wanted to just have something simple with a few close friends with Amelia Bones officiating, but he ran into some major resistance from his bride to be. Sarah was a witch, but she was a muggleborn witch with a successful veterinary practice and a large extended family. The only members of the family who knew she was magical were her parents and her younger sister. Sirius had only one relative, Draco, but he had many friends in the magical world. Since Jack and Lyn Nalett, Sarah's parents, were hosting the wedding, it would be in the muggle world, in the church in which she was baptized and confirmed. Thus the ridiculous bow ties along with the equally ridiculous tuxedos. Sirius had to admit however, Harry, Neville, and Draco looked absolutely cute in their little tuxedos, like three small penguins.

There were several people from the magical world attending the wedding; however they were coming in through a different entrance with a couple of muggleborn wizards transfiguring their ridiculous outfits into appropriate attire for the occasion. Had they not been there, it would have looked like a circus had vomited its stranger performers into the groom's side of the church. The hardest person to 'normalize' would be Rubius Hagrid. No matter how you dress him, a three metre tall person with long wild hair and a beard like a Cossack is bound to draw people's attention. This was solved by placing a _notice me not_ charm on the half giant and having one of the wizard ushers take him to his seat. He still had his 'finery' transfigured into a muggle business suit in the event that a stray camera should accidentally include him in a shot.

The working plan was that both magical and muggle family and friends would attend the wedding at St. Anne's, then the bride and groom would attend a muggle reception in the church social hall while the magical guests would retire to the Potter Estate, vacant since the deaths of James Potter's parents, Charlus and Dorea Potter. The estate had been cleaned up and brought to its former glory by a small army of rented and borrowed house elves. Following the muggle reception, Sirius and Sarah would use a time turner to go back to the time the wedding ceremony finished, then apparate to the Potter Estate where they would partake in a simple bonding ceremony officiated by Amelia Bones. With changing from Muggle wedding garb into formal wizarding robes, then having a second reception with their magical friends, this would prove to be a very long day, at least for them. Prior to the second reception though, Sarah and Draco would be undergoing a blood adoption ceremony; at that time they would be a completely integrated family.

The wedding came off without any major hitches, Draco marching down the aisle with his ring pillow next to Sarah's four year old niece as the flower girl. Next came the Maid of Honor escorted by Remus, the Best Man. All of the bride's attendants were muggles and the groomsmen magical. The wizards in the party gave silent thanks that there had been a rehearsal prior to the ceremony, this was completely outside of their experience. Sirius did do a bit of grumbling when he saw the robes the priest was wearing, they looked much more comfortable than his tux.

The music changed from the prelude and the massive pipe organ began the traditional Wedding March. The congregation stood and turned toward the aisle as Sarah, escorted by Jack Nalett, stepped through the door. She was radiant in her dress, the long train being held by Harry and Neville. Sirius looked at his bride and his heart skipped a few beats. He always knew she was the prettiest girl he ever knew, but today she was past pretty, past beautiful, she was _stunning!_ And in a few minutes, she would, forever, be all his! Although the march to the alter took less than a minute, it was the longest minute of his life.

During the prayers, the music, and the vows, Sirius was lost in those beautiful eyes, what her parents had, even as a child, jokingly called 'witchy eyes'. They seemed to change color, from a light hazel to a jade green while he watched. Her father always thought it was a reaction to different light; he didn't know that it was an effect that was brought about by her hidden magic. He responded in all the right places, and before he knew it, the priest told him that he could kiss his bride. Just like that, Sarah Nalett became Sarah Black, at least in the muggle world. A quick dash down the aisle and it was off to the first reception, where Sarah had limited him to a single glass of champagne. He didn't really mind, the firewhisky would be flowing later at the Potter Estate. Right now he was intoxicated with the sassy redhead who was teasing him unmercifully, whispering her intentions once they finally got alone.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Ministry of Magic_

_Department of Mysteries_

George Greengrass, codenamed Delta, was staring at two vastly different items that had ended up on his desk. One was a black muggle diary which to all intents and purposes, was blank and unused. The other was a golden locket that was immediately recognizable from a non- moving painting at Hogwarts. The painting, never activated, was of one of the school's founder's, Salazar Slytherin. Tests run on both items had shown them to have laid upon them a significant number of dark curses and protections. The spells all showed the same magical signature, but there was an unknown magical quality that had him stumped. The odd thing was that they were obtained from two different sources; the diary from the raid on the old Malfoy Estate, and the locket voluntarily surrendered by Sirius Black when clearing out his childhood home in London. He decided he needed help on this one in order to untangle the mysteries they held. He wrote out a memo, folded it into an origami bird, then tapped it with his wand to send it on its way. A few minutes later, his study was interrupted by his boss, codenamed Alpha.

"I got your memo, what seems to be the problem?" Alpha, one of only two Unspeakables with no known 'legal' identity, was intrigued. There were very few things in the magical world that mystified him anymore, in his long tenure as head of the Department of Mysteries, he had seen just about everything.

"It's these two items, sir. All of the curses and protections are identifiable, but there is something else hidden in them which I cannot define or categorize. Would you mind taking a look?"

Alpha looked over the list of curses and protections on the items, then waved his wand over the items to check his employee's work. He nodded in approval at the completeness of Delta's cataloguing, then sucked in a startled breath.

"Where again did these come from?"

"The diary came from the Malfoy raid a couple of years ago and the locket was turned in by Sirius Black after he inherited his family estate."

"Hmm.. well, we know that Malfoy had every sort of dark object, he was apparently a collector as well as a Death Eater. Black had a brother who was a Death Eater, but was killed by the Dark Lord. The Blacks also had quite a collection of dark objects and books."

"I knew about the dark books, Black donated them to us when he cleaned out the family library. I didn't know his brother was marked."

Alpha opened the diary, then took a quill and wrote: "_Who are you?"_

The ink soaked into the page and disappeared. A moment later, words appeared. _"My name is Tom Riddle. Who are you?"_

Alpha slammed the diary shut and gathered up the two items. "One, you never saw these. Two, Send an urgent memo to Omega, tell him to meet me in my office. He and I are taking over this case, if anymore of these objects with this signature come in, direct them to me immediately. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!"

With that, Alpha spun on his heel and strode off while Greengrass wrote the memo. He was glad that he was only passing a message to Omega, not meeting with him. If he was honest with himself, Alpha and Omega both creeped him out. All Unspeakables wore cloaks and hoods that completely obscured their faces when outside of the department on business, but inside the department and after they left the Ministry for home, they removed them. All but Alpha and Omega. No one had any idea who they were. They were never seen without their hoods, anyone who may have been around when Alpha took over the department was long dead. Omega was a recent addition to the department; he just showed up one day in his hood and never took it off. Omega was a man of few words, but the one impression everyone got from him was that he was dangerous, even more so than the other Unspeakables. He gave off an aura that screamed death to anyone who penetrated the mask.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

The ghosts of Hogwarts had been called to a council at the request of Professor Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff House. She was being represented by the Fat Friar, Hufflepuff's patron ghost. This was to be a disciplinary hearing with Peeves, the school poltergeist as the accused. He had finally gone too far, in Professor Sprout's opinion, exploding dangerous potions in the Hufflepuff dorms, then blocking the exits with man eating plants from greenhouse six. Pranks were one thing, but this action had caused a third year to go into respiratory distress from potion vapors and a first year to lose a finger to a Venus Man trap, not to mention several students having bites and torn clothing from the plants. Even the normally forgiving Friar was out for blood, or in this case, ectoplasm.

Besides the house ghosts and Peeves, there were sixty five other ghosts who had made Hogwarts their afterlife home. Most were never seen by the students or staff, but they were still there. Many had been former students or staff, such as the present History of Magic professor, Binns, the only ghost in the world who drew a pay cheque. There was also Myrtle Epsilon, a Ravenclaw student who died in a bathroom in 1943. She was seldom seen because her antics with flooding that bathroom caused it to be marked with a permanent 'Out of Order' sign. Today Myrtle was in even more distress than usual; she was crying and trying to wipe away a silvery substance that looked almost like the silvery blood that covered the clothes of the Bloody Baron, Slytherin's house ghost. Right now, the Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's house ghost, was attempting to comfort her.

"My dear, how did you get yourself in such a situation?"

"I don't know!" Myrtle wailed. "I was traveling from my bathroom to the prefect's bathroom when I passed a 'T' fitting, and the next thing I knew, I was covered with this stuff. And I can't get it off!" She made another useless swipe at the silver mess, only to have it stick to her hands.

"Please calm down and after the Council meeting I will ask the Baron to look at it. If anyone can help, it would be him. So, no more tears young lady."

Myrtle sniffed some more, then sat down. The Bloody Baron entered, followed by Peeves, manacled in ectoplasmic shackles and attended by two ghosts who had been former DADA professors in their former lives. The two professors attached the shackles to a wall, then the sixty nine ghosts took their places at the long conference table. The Baron clapped his hands for attention.

"This emergency session of the Hogwarts Spirit Council shall come to order. A complaint has been filed by the Head of Hufflepuff house against Peeves the poltergeist alleging misdeeds causing grievous injury to students we are magically bound to protect. Professor Binns, do you have the complaint?"

"Yes Baron, Friar Manns filed it with me this morning. I find it to be in order."

"Is there any doubt about the guilt of the accused?"

"None Baron, his trace was on both the potions and the plants. He was also observed leaving the Hufflepuff common room by two sixth year prefects just as the alarm broke out. The prefects were the female Ravenclaw and the male Slytherin students." The names of the students were not important, just their office. After all, trying to keep straight the names of the living, especially students, was next to impossible.

"Very well. Due to the severity of the charges, and taking into account that the first year student permanently lost the index finger on her wand hand, the punishment options are as follows: either imprisonment in the Spirit Dungeon for a period no less than until the end of the school year plus the summer holidays, but no more than until the end of next school year, banishment from Hogwarts, or exorcism. Should exorcism be the chosen option, the condemned will be escorted by myself, two guards, and the Headmaster to the nearest muggle church, dowsed in Holy water by the priest, and destroyed since poltergeists have no afterlife. The Headmaster will then Obliviate the priest to erase all memories of the ritual. Does the defendant have anything to add before the Council deliberates?"

"Oh Baron, please! Peevesy did not mean to hurt anyone! Peeves will be good if you forgive me! I promise!"

"Shut up, you sniveling fool!" shouted the Fat Friar. "You are past the point of forgiveness this time, the only thing now to settle is the severity of your well deserved punishment!"

"In that case, this Council shall vote." The Baron said. "Please make known by your upraised hand the manner of punishment. All in favor of imprisonment? Banishment? Exorcism? Professor Binns, what is the verdict?"

"Baron, the vote for exorcism is 15, the vote for banishment is 22, and the vote for imprisonment is 32."

"Very well; Peeves, due to the fact that thirty seven of your peers voted for a stronger sentence than imprisonment, I hereby sentence you to a term of imprisonment to last until the end of the next school year. Guards, take the prisoner into the Spirit Dungeon and chain him tightly to the wall. He is to have no range of movement until the end of his sentence. Be forewarned Peeves, any similar incidences following the completion of your sentence will have a penalty of no less than banishment. I declare this Council closed!"

As Peeves was led away wailing, the Friar left to report the verdict of the Council to the Headmaster and Professor Sprout. Without a doubt, the students of Hogwarts would have an easier time of it for the next year and a half. The Baron turned to leave, but was stopped by the Grey Lady so that he could see to Moaning Myrtle. Seeing the silvery substance on her clothes, he stopped, startled.

"Merlin's crusty balls! Girl, do you know what you have there?" At Myrtle's denial, he continued. "That child, is memories of the living. How on earth did you end up with them? Did you enter a Pensieve?"

"Sir, I don't even know what a Pensieve is!"

"Oh, it is a stone bowl with runes carved around the edges. Have you been in anything like that?"

"No sir, I picked this up in one of the sewer pipes between my bathroom and the prefect's bath. Please Baron, is there anyway to get them off? They make me feel dirty somehow."

The Baron bit back a retort which wondered how on earth a ghost that haunted toilets and sewers could possibly feel dirty, realizing that Myrtle was in real distress, not caused by her normal torment. It was his job to help her and to get to the bottom of anything strange that could affect the school.

"First off child, you must realize that memories from the living cannot be viewed by the dead, however since these seem to stick well to ghosts, I will scrape them off you and add them to my own clothes until I can obtain help by a living being to remove them and view them in a Pensieve. There are two Pensieves in the school, the one in the Headmaster's office and one in the storage area of the Room of Requirements. I see no need to bother the Headmaster at this point, I can instruct one of my seventh year Slytherin students on the method of capturing the memories with his wand and using the Pensieve. He can then tell me the contents of the memories. So for now, step over here and I will remove them…… there you go. Now, back to your normal haunting, and if you run across any more of these, come to me immediately."

"I will sir, thank you!" With that, Myrtle floated up through the ceiling to catch the closest drainpipe.

"Baron," the Grey Lady asked, "Are you going to let a student carry something like that around?"

"Of course not, Lady Helena. When I choose the student to view the memories, I will have a student I have trained standing by to Obliviate him or her once they leave the Room of Requirements."

She laughed. "Baron, you are a credit to your House, you do not miss a trick."

"Of course."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

_Potter Estate_

_Wales_

The bonding ceremony and the adoption finished, Sirius and his bride were mingling with their guests. At the present time, he was huddled with Remus and Frank, looking over the now-restored Potter Estate.

"I can't believe it, I haven't been here since I was sixteen, but it looks exactly as I remember it.," Sirius gaped.

"Thank Merlin, it certainly took enough work to get it this way. All of the Potter's house elves died off, so I had to rent every available elf on the market plus borrow some from some of the other families. Fortunately there was a fund for upkeep of the estate. As Harry's guardian, I have access to it. I'm thinking that I should buy a couple of elves for the estate; that way they can keep the place up so that Harry won't have to try to clean up a disaster when he reaches his majority and takes over."

"Try hiring free elves instead. I am paying Dobby a lot less than I would pay for an enslaved elf. It takes some getting used to, but it could be the future of elf servants. It gives them a purpose, and if they still want to be enslaved, you won't be paying thousands of galleons to some slave broker."

"So," asked Remus, "where are you and Sarah going for your honeymoon?"

"Damnedest thing, I found out when my mother died that she owned an island off the coast of Greece. It has a house on it that hasn't been used in over 30 years. I didn't even know that she owned it, it was apparently given to her by her father in the event that she wanted to bail out on my father. I checked it out two months ago, there was a staff of elves, unfortunately they were as nutty as Kreacher. I sold them off and hired some free elves to make sure the place was cleaned up and ready for us. By the way, I really appreciate you and Alice taking Draco while we are gone. If you need any more help around the house, I told Dobby to listen for your call."

"Hey, what are friends for? I don't think we will be needing him, but I'll keep it in mind."

The three said their good byes and Sirius went off in search of his bride. Unbeknownst to Sirius, Remus, and Frank, there was an oversight they had never thought to correct. When the Marauders visited the Potter Estate during their sixth year, Charlus had keyed all three of James' friends into the wards. They had been such close friends that he had never bothered to remove them. After his and Dorea's deaths, James, Lily, and Harry were in Godric's Hollow under the Fidelus and had not seen any reason to return to the Estate to modify the wards.

At this moment, there was a fat, grey rat watching the guests leave from his perch in the stable…. _inside the wards._


End file.
